NI pub of the year award dedicated to late barman

The owner of Northern Ireland’s pub of the year has dedicated the award to the memory of one of his long-serving barmen who recently passed away.

Tomney’s Bar in Moy claimed the 2021 National Pub and Bar Award for Northern Ireland from the Pub & Bar magazine at a ceremony in London earlier this month.

But it was a bitter sweet occasion as general manager, Laurence Logue, who helped run the bar, had passed away in August.

Laurence, also known as Logie, has worked in Tomney’s for 15 years. He was originally from Londonderry and was a well-known face around the Moy.

Tomney’s owner Barry John said: “He was a father figure to us all and trained not only the Tomneys staff but also various hosteleries around the village of Moy.

“Logie’s niece, Emma, was in London on the night of the awards with her partner Mark in order to receive both Tyrone and Ulster Pub & Bar of the year on his and our behalf. This made it all the sweeter.”

Barry thinks the award is well deserved for Tomney’s: “It is not contrived, it’s raw, natural and it is what it is. You will receive a warm welcome from all our staff. We have loads of live local acts entertaining weekly and a clientele base which changes on a weekly basis, people as far as Dublin, Belfast, Derry and inbetween as well as all of our international tourists.

“We would like to thank our staff first and foremost, our great live acts and most importantly our patrons, without whom this award wouldn’t be possible.”

Other county winners for NI were The Poet in Belfast, Courthouse Bar in Craigavon, The Maghera Inn in Castlewellan and Granny Annies in Enniskillen.

Londonderry’s Walled City Brewery took home the 2021 Kegstar Taproom of the Year award.

James Huey, who owns the Walled City Brewery with his wife Louise, said: “In fairness, there are not a lot of taprooms in Northern Ireland, probably only eight or nine, but the big thing is that this award was across the whole of the UK, so in England, Scotland, Wales there are maybe 600 to 700 of them.

“For a small brewery in an old army barracks to win the best taproom in the UK is a hell of an accolade, and it’s entirety is to the staff we have on board and customers who kept coming after the pandemic. It’s really due to them that we won.”

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