Pictured with Cathaoirleach Cllr. Sean Drew following the announcement was Karen McBride (The Parcel Concierge), Edel Walsh and Fiona Gill (Haven Pharmacy), Barry Lynch DoS, Meath County Council, Alan Forde (SuperValu), Imantas Vaicikauskas (Sweet Planet), Sean McWilliams (SuperValu & Tara News), Elamarie Kavanagh (Haven Pharmacy).

Dunshaughlin named as finalist in 'Ireland's Friendliest Place' competition

Dunshaughlin is one of five finalists in the National Retail Excellence Awards, for ‘Ireland’s Friendliest Place’, having passed through a rigorous auditing process when Dunshaughlin retailers were assessed by mystery shoppers testing service standards in the town.

This is an incredible achievement for these Meath retailers, as according to Retail Excellence Ireland: “The standard was very high this year as all retailers are working so hard to make a strong recovery post pandemic.”

Meath County Council’s Local Enterprise Office has been driving financial and advisory support to the retail sector in Meath throughout the pandemic.

Congratulations to the business owners and teams at SuperValu (Healy's), Tara News, Haven Pharmacy Kavanagh's, The Parcel Concierge and Sweet Planet Home Bakery for their excellence in customer service and experience, and for showcasing Dunshaughlin as a National leader in retail excellence.

The Final awards event will take place virtually in November 2021.

The inaugural ‘Ireland’s Friendliest Place’ awards took place in 2016 and boosted spirit and pride across many towns and villages nationwide.

Each county and city council is invited to enter their city, town or village into this award where up to a maximum of 10 stores in each place will be audited using the same criteria as the National Store of the Year Award. The three places with the highest average score are deemed finalists and are invited to attend the Retail Excellence Awards Ceremony where ‘Ireland’s Friendliest Place’ will be announced