Fellowship Award for Niall McKenna
Niall McKenna s pictured receiving is pictured Honorary Fellowship award from Marie-Therese McGivern, principal and chief executive of Belfast Met.
Belfast Metropolitan College awarded an annual Honorary Fellowship Award to chef and restauraeur, Niall McKenna, during its annual higher education graduation ceremony recently.
Niall, owner of James Street South restaurant and cookery school, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to entrepreneurship and to the hospitality and tourism industry in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Met’s Honorary Fellowship Award recognises individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who have achieved excellence in their field, career or personal journey. The Fellows are regarded as a role model for students and graduates as they continue their education and career development pathways at Belfast Met and beyond.
Niall McKenna, a former Belfast Met hospitality student, has been cooking since the age of 16. Following his training in Belfast and 12 years spent honing his skills under Michelin-starred chefs in London, Niall returned home to open James Street South Restaurant in 2003, followed by the Bar + Grill and Hadskis.
The Bar + Grill was recently awarded a sought-after Bib Gourmand in the official 2015 Michelin Guide, an honour which came just weeks after James Street South was named Northern Ireland Restaurant of the Year in the prestigious 2015 Waitrose Good Food Guide.
Niall is regarded as an ambassador of the tourism and hospitality industries in Northern Ireland, and was recently hailed a “Tourism Hero” at the prestigious Northern Ireland Tourism Awards. Winning a clutch of industry awards and a dish in the 2010 Great British Menu television series, Niall has consistently demonstrated his professional cookery and entrepreneurial skills. Through James Street South Restaurant, Niall has provided many work placements and apprenticeship programmes to Belfast Met learners over recent years. His recent collaboration with the College has resulted in the development of a Professional Chefs Academy.
Marie-Thérèse McGivern, principal and chief executive of Belfast Met congratulated the new graduates and Honorary Fellows:
“It is an absolute privilege to award our Honorary Fellowship to a truly outstanding individual and champion of the local tourism and hospitality industry,” she added. “We hope that Niall McKenna’s journey to success will inspire our learners as they move into the next stage of their personal and professional lives.”
Niall McKenna said that he felt honoured to accept the award from the college:
“I have a fantastic relationship with the college dating back from my time there as a student through to the recent collaboration on the Professional Chefs Academy,” he added. Working with the James Street South Apprentice Scheme reinforces my links with the college and I hope that my experience can in some way inspire the graduates of 2014 and the years to come and help build upon the futures that each of them have now started to create in this industry.”
The annual graduation, the largest event in the college’s academic calendar, welcomed 2,000 guests to Titanic Belfast and its Titanic Quarter Campus as graduates from the Faculty of Technologies and Academic Studies, the Faculty of Health, Care, Sport and Leisure and the Faculty of Leadership, Science and Service Industries were conferred.
