Applegreen to open Ireland's first Taco Bell at new €15m forecourt on M3
Applegreen
will open Ireland's first
Taco Bell restaurant
in September as part of a €15 million investment in a new motorway service area on the M3 in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.
The company is creating just over 100 jobs at the new service area, which will also include an M&S Food shop-in-shop outlet, a new Braeburn Coffee café, a Burger King restaurant, and Crafted, Applegreen's bespoke new deli offering.
The new service area will also have an Applegreen convenience store, a service station forecourt, and, initially, eight ultra-Fast EV charging ports, capable of speeds up to 400kW. More chargers will come onstream when further power is available at the site.
Seamus Stapleton, managing director of Applegreen's Irish business, said the group plans to open several additional Taco Bell restaurants at its Irish locations over the next five years.
READ MORE
The Dunshaughlin facility is Applegreen's largest single investment project in Ireland this year. It will cover almost 10 acres and will be the largest EV charging hub on the M3.
[
Taco Bell's arrival could add spice to Ireland's love affair with American fast food
Opens in new window
]
Meanwhile,
Certa
, another forecourt operator, is opening its 25th hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel site in Ireland this week in Portlaoise.
The company, which is part of industrial conglomerate
DCC
, said it was responding to increasing demand from diesel drivers who are choosing the
renewable fuel
.
HVO is produced from waste plant matter and can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for engine modifications. It can help motorists lower their carbon emissions by between 65 per cent and 90 per cent.
Certa said demand for HVO is being driven by diesel drivers 'who want to go green but who have put off switching to an EV for a variety of reasons'.
[
Why is it costing me more to use green fuel in my car than fossil fuels?
Opens in new window
]
The company said these include the cost of buying an EV, the lack of charging infrastructure across the State, and not having their own driveway or off-street parking where they can install a home charger.
Certa opened Ireland's first fully fledged HVO fuel station in Liffey Valley in late 2023 at a cost of €1 million.
Fifteen of the 25 HVO fuel sites that Certa currently operates have opened over the past eight months and the company has plans to open five more sites later this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Former Fianna Fáil councillor ‘recklessly' failed to disclose son's interest in lands, ethics watchdog finds
A former Fianna Fáil councillor who failed to disclose his son's interest in lands before a vote that would 'significantly increase' their value, contravened ethics rules and 'acted recklessly', the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) has found. Tommy Reilly, who was a councillor in Meath for almost three decades, was the subject of a complaint received in March 2022 over 'acts and omissions' concerning lands at Liscarton in Navan . Those lands were owned by his son, Ciarán Reilly, and had increased in value from €500,000 to some €4.2 million, at which they were marketed for sale in 2020 following the rezoning for housing and the granting of planning permission. Ciarán Reilly purchased the lands in 2016, telling the commission during a hearing in June that while he had not initially purchased the lands as an investment for development, he later formed the view that they may be an investment opportunity. READ MORE He told the commission he did not discuss the Liscarton lands with his father until June or July 2017, when he inquired about the proposed rezoning and development plan process. He held the interest in the lands through his company RABS, the director of which ultimately became his brother, Tomás Reilly. Tommy Reilly attended several meetings concerning the lands between July 2016 and July 2017 while a councillor, according to the Sipo report published on Tuesday. He told the commission he did not learn of his son's beneficial interest in the lands until July 2017, about two weeks before the special planning meeting, saying he did not generally discuss his son's business interests with him. After questions from his son regarding making a submission, Mr Reilly said he told him it was too late to make one, and that he 'could have nothing to do with it'. The commission said it was not persuaded by the evidence provided by Mr Reilly and his two sons and found itself 'unable to rely on it'. Mr Reilly said he spoke to a council official before the special planning meeting in July 2017. He said he proceeded to declare that he had a conflict of interest, which was recorded in the minutes, and excused himself from the vote. However, he did not disclose the nature of his interest or the fact of his sons' interest. Mr Reilly told the commission that in 30 years, he had never seen anyone do that at a meeting. He added that three years after the meeting, in September 2020, he wrote to the council's ethics registrar, disclosing the nature of the conflict of interest. A review carried out by then chief executive of the council, Jackie Maguire, found 'there was compliance with the spirit but not the letter' of the Ethical Framework for Councillors and that he had 'inadvertently breached' the framework. The commission said Mr Reilly's failure to disclose his son's interest in the lands at the special planning meeting was a contravention that was 'committed recklessly' and was a 'serious matter'. Noting that the vote at the special planning meeting was likely to 'significantly increase' the value of the land owned by his son, the commission said Mr Reilly 'acted recklessly' in not declaring his son's interest. 'As a long-standing councillor of 21 years' service at the time, and with all the experience that entails, the commission finds that he should have known better and, if he was in doubt, should have sought specific advice beforehand,' it said.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Crash, part two: austerity bites and Cowen's Morning Ireland humiliation
In part two of a three-part series on Brian Cowen's ill-fated 2008-2011 government, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan continue the story. After the fateful 2008 decision to bail out Ireland's banks, Cowen and his Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan spent the next year struggling to shore up Ireland's worsening finances. Throughout 2009 and 2010 the mood in the country darkened as recession bit. Spending cuts and tax rises were introduced in a series of hair-shirt budgets. As a result, confidence in the government was already on the floor when Cowen made an infamous appearance on Morning Ireland in September 2009. But what did Cowen actually say in the interview, and what impact did it have?
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Glanbia increases full-year earnings guidance despite slump in profit
Nutritionals group Glanbia has increased its earnings forecast for the year while appointing a new chairman. The company, which has been struggling to contend with a spike in the cost of whey proteins, a key input, said headline revenue for the first six months of the year increased by 6 per cent to $1.9 billion. Profits, however, were down by 7.5 per cent to $132 million. The company also announced the sale of its Dutch e-commerce platform Body&Fit for an undisclosed sum while noting there was 'no news yet' on the planned sale of its underperforming dieting brand SlimFast. READ MORE The Dublin-listed group upgraded its full-year earnings guidance to 130-133 cent per share, up from 124-130 cent, as a result of what it described as 'increased revenue momentum' in the second quarter across its performance nutrition (PN) division. The PN element of the business has been the star performer n recent years but it has been hit by a jump in the cost of whey. The company unveiled Paul Duffy, a former chairman and chief executive of Pernod Ricard North America, as chair designate to replace Donal Gaynor who is due to step down from the role at the end of the year. 'Today's results reflect a first half of significant execution and progress as we generated 6 per cent revenue growth in the period, underpinned by strong growth in health & nutrition (H&N) and dairy nutrition (DN) and a sequential improvement in performance nutrition through the period as the group navigated significant macroeconomic volatility,' chief executive Hugh McGuire said. 'We are today upgrading our full year adjusted EPS guidance to 130 to 133 cent as a result of increased revenue momentum in PN and improved margins in H&N,' he said. 'The category trends remain positive, and we expect to see continued improvement in volumes across PN in the second half of the year with continued momentum in H&N and DN,' he said.
