The Lough Neagh Artisans Group is growing and now has 11 members from around the shores of Lough Neagh.
“We are delighted to welcome three new members to the group”, commented Eimear Kearney from Lough Neagh Partnership who co-ordinate the group. “Noreen’s Nettles, Annie’s Delights and Symphonia Gin are three very different businesses but will complement the existing group membership.”
Noreen’s Nettles is located in the village of Aghalee near the eastern shores of Lough Neagh and is owned by Noreen van der Velde. Noreen grows nettles and produces nettle tea, nettle powder and nettle hair tonic as well as running B&B accommodation.
“I’m absolutely delighted to join the Lough Neagh Artisans Group. It’s been a great opportunity to meet new food producers from around Lough Neagh as well as attending training courses. The Video Making Training in April was really helpful and I’m looking forward to making some social media videos for the group in the future,” commented Noreen.
The second new group member is Ann-Marie Collins from the village of Portglenone, ten miles north of Lough Neagh. She makes a fantastic array of homemade jams, chutneys and breads which are correctly named “Annie’s Delights”.
“As a local person who has grown up with Lough Neagh on the doorstep, I wanted to be in a group of like-minded foodie people in the area. The group is a great way to tap into ideas and answers to queries too,” remarked Ann-Marie.
South west of Lough Neagh is the County Tyrone village of Benburb, the home of the Woodlab Distillery. Owned by Ulrich Dyer, the Woodlab Distillery combines selected natural ingredients and scientific processes to create the finest botanical spirits that showcase the Irish countryside including Symphonia Dry Gin and Symphonia Apple Gin.
“To be honest, we joined the group to showcase our products to other businesses around the Lough. It is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate and work together to improve our offering as a whole around Lough Neagh,” said Ulrich.
So if you are an artisan business located within ten miles from Lough Neagh and are interested in joining the group, we would love to hear from you!
