Latest news with #MattFoley
Irish Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Post
Irish tomato-growing brothers star in Marks and Spencer advert
A PAIR of tomato-growing brothers in Dublin are the stars of Marks and Spencer's latest advertising campaign. John and Matt Foley, from the coastal town of Rush in Co. Dublin, supply M&S with Rosa Vine, Tomalini and classic Salad tomatoes from their Kilbush Nurseries business. M&S Food Ambassador Mark Moriarty met with the siblings to get an insight into how the sweetness of their produce is attributed to their coastal sea location. John and Matt Foley, from Rush, Co. Dublin, supply M&S with Rosa Vine, Tomalini and classic Salad tomatoes "It was a pleasure to meet John and Matt at Kilbush Nurseries in Rush,' he said. 'Seeing firsthand how the local environment contributes to the unique sweetness of their tomatoes was fascinating. 'Their commitment to growing the highest quality, seasonal produce, from planting in January to daily harvesting, truly showcases the passion that goes into every M&S tomato,' he added. 'It's growers like the Foley brothers that ensure customers have access to top-quality products when they shop in M&S.' The brothers are the latest producers to feature in the British chain's new Farm to Foodhall advertising campaign. Last month, Monaghan farmer Malachy Traynor featured in the first instalment tof the campaign. 'Our Farm to Foodhall campaign continues to champion the incredible work of our M&S Select Farms in Ireland,' Laura Harper, Trading Director for M&S Ireland and Northern Ireland, said. 'We are delighted to share the story of the Foley brothers' farm in Co. Dublin, highlighting how their unique coastal location and dedication to environmental practices guarantee our customers fresh and delicious tasting and trusted tomatoes every time,' she added. Watch the advert here… See More: Dublin, Ireland, MS, Tomatoes
Irish Examiner
19-06-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Chance to be part of Cork's €1.825m Red House's history
THE owner of Cork's much-loved Red House was warned by his one-time school history teacher not to muck about with this venerable era private, Leeside residence, with its many rises, and ignominious dips, over more than 200 years of its history: it just about pre-dates the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. Could have met its Waterloo by Wellington Bridge ....but it didn't 'I met my old history teacher, Matt Foley, a few years back at a school reunion and he warned me - in the strongest possible terms - not to change its character,' says the owner, now the vendor of the c 1811 Red House. He had bought it, in a very sorry state, back in 2014 and has since very successfully reversed the ravages of time. A sorry sight and site before salvation came its way In fact, the language used by the retired CBC history teacher (whose family home was over on the Western Road across Wellington Bridge) was a lot stronger than 'the strongest possible terms….' But, the point was made, and not lost on his former pupil who assured his former teacher he had no intention of changing it, he just loved it, had always admired it, and wanted to rescue it. 'I knew the house for years, right back to college days in the 1990s when I lived across the road from it when it had been a family home,' says the Corkman who bought it intending it to be his own family home, having previously lived and worked in Hong Kong and the UK. However, his family and work life now with his US-born wife and children is in Dublin, so having bought, saved and 'lightly restyled' the Red House at very considerable expense, and having of late rented it at the very upper end of the corporate letting scale, has decided to part ways with it, ready for its next life chapter. Sitting pretty Red House has been here in these Property & Home pages before, variously called No 72, Red House, and more properly Lisheen. Red rag-order in 2006 We wrote about it back in 2006 when it was described as a 'Lady in Red, albeit more than slightly down at heel,' having had the ignominy, for a period, of being lived in by squatters who'd started chopping up some of the internal timbers for the fireplace to stay warm. Even despite its poor order of two decades back, it had carried a pre-auction guide/hope of €1.5m to €2m: this was back in roaring Celtic Tiger times when a Sunday's Well house had set a Cork home price record of c€5m and the country was awash in (borrowed) cash. High end finishes now It didn't sell, and so sat for a number of subsequent years, slowly decaying and came back for sale in 2014, all boarded up, faded (pic, top right), a shadow of once-upon a time more glorious days, and sold for €450,000 to its current owner, later described in these pages as 'a dreamer' for the scale of what was taken on. High level section links the now amalgamated home, part Georgian, part Victorian and wholly modernised The couple brought the highly regarded Pat O'Sullivan of Kiosk Architects on board, and then engaged Rose Construction for the herculean task of working with a period home inside and outside, on a challenging riverside and roadside site, in red-rag order, and one which was granted listed building status by Cork City Council after their purchase. Vaulted ceiling with ornate rose: the thorny work was done by Rose Construction Singled out for special protection were large ceiling roses in two of the reception rooms in the c3,800 sq ft 'home of two halves', part dating to the early 1800s, the other Victorian, dating to the 1860s and which at various times were used as one, and sometimes two, residences. The older Georgian/Queen Anne era 'half' also has one of the conserved plasterwork roses crowning a very fine vaulted ceiling, all in any case given due regard as was the owners' and architects' intentions in any case. (The vendors had previous experience of house renovations in older era homes in London and in West Cork.) Opportunity knocks Post the 2014 purchase, it took a few years before work could really start at Lisheen/aka No 72, also previously West View Cottage, and later West View Villa (and, 'the Red House' to the rest of us.) Its latter, finishing up staged were after a certain global pandemic hit, with covid adding to time lines, materials and build costs and restrictions. As well as using Kiosk Architects for the salvation and rebirth of Red House, the couple got full planning for a Kiosk-designed c 1,700 sq ft ultra contemporary one-off in a side garden on the property's overall c 0.25 acre site, and this was offered for sale in 2022 with a €475,000 AMV. Now, more practically, both the site with its positive planning history and the fully reborn Red House with up to six bedrooms and understated yet high-end finishes, top to bottom under a wholly-new roof down into a lower part-basement are rolled into the one package, with a €1.825m guide cited by agent Johnny O'Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald. Mr O'Flynn knows that he is selling a Cork classic, in a hallowed city suburb much valued by medics and other well-heeled professionals and where older era homes now tend to get very costly upgrades when and if selling on. The Price Register shows a half a dozen with a Sundays Well address selling for between €1m and €2.2m, with the boom time era €5m Woodlawn showing as a 2016 resale at €2.195 million. The house immediately downriver of Red House, The Hollies sold in 2016 for a recorded €800,000 and has since had a very costly makeover: the setting right on the river is what makes these one-offs of the Georgian and Victorian eras so highly prized. Red House has possibly the very best or most engaging of River Lee/Sundays Well views, not just from the grounds but from the inside as well: look west/upriver and you see Wellington Bridge/Thomas Davis Bridge and County Hall; look downriver and you see the iconic Shakey Bridge/Daly's Bridge: Cork's Red House is almost as iconic. 'At one stage during the work we had thought about changing the colour to more of a pink, but while we were doing the work the architects started getting letters from neighbours and members of the public saying they really hoped it was going to stay red, and of course it has,' say the owners who could possibly have had red blood on their hands if they veered of the original bolder lipstick red colour at this true on-off. The man behind Red House's full-blooded 21st century restoration and conservation says the first lease they got sight of was in 1804, between a Rt Hon Richard Edmund St Laurence and James Bonwell; then, a 90 year lease between the Earl of Cork and Ossery and a William Newman; next, in 1892, it was leased to a Dominick Daly by Viscount Dungarvan: 'I loved history and had a great history teacher,' says the 2025 vendor, still possibly afraid of being haunted by a certain history teacher, living locally….. Sherry FitzGerald's Johnny O'Flynn chimes in on the sale now to say 'seeped in history and known by Corkonians as 'The Red House', West View Villa is an imposing five / six bedroom detached waterside home, with so much space, it is hard to believe just how centrally located in Cork City you are.' Now includes off-street parking He says home work done here was meticulous, blending charm and originality with modern day comforts, and captivating views from just about every room, with a large double garage with remote control access for off-street parking and private garden on three sides, landscaped by designer Sean Russell. There are some pressed metal interventions in a vertical bay window treatments, one on the main river-and Mardyke facing facade, the other horizontal in the top floor span corridor, with timber sashes also, most with original window shutters. Flooring's a mix of solid timber, reclaimed and Victorian style tiles (sourced in Toledo Spain,) slate and cast iron insert fireplaces, a contemporary two- tone kitchen by Clohane Wood Products Skibbereen, and bathroom and sanitary ware from Bert & May, London. There are up to six bedrooms (two with en suites) and masses of storage on all levels, including a steady temperature lower ground level pantry/wine cellar and basement store, twin gas boilers, alarm and CCTV among the 21st century adaptations to a 220+year old Cork icon. Semi-basement pantry/wine cellar with storage access Selling agents Sherry FitzGerald add 'it's exceptionally rare that properties like this come to the market… even more so ones that have been so meticulously restored to such a high standard.' VERDICT: the only thing a new owner might want to do is change the colour…..if they want to be run out of town, before they ever get to unpack.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
At $16,500, Could This 2012 Ford Transit Connect XLT Connect With Your Cash?
According to the seller, today's Nice Price or No Dice Transit Connect "Looks and smells showroom new." Let's decide if its price passes the stink test as well. No one likes a tease. That is abundantly true. It's just totally unfair to tempt us with something only to leave us crestfallen with the discovery that we can't have it. That was much the case with our last outing, which featured a 2005 Subaru Baja with a turbo engine and a manual shifter. That car had been outfitted as an overlander and was shown in the ad with a literal cherry on top in the form of a roof rack tent. That pop-top was not offered in the sale, which made the Baja's $12,750 wholly unpalatable for the vast majority of you once the car's other flaws were considered. The result was an 80 percent No Dice loss. I'm curious: how many of you never considered "living in a van, down by the river" until Chris Farley brought a newfound appeal to such a prospect with his Matt Foley character on SNL? Today, we're going to look at a 2012 Ford Transit Connect XLT Premium Wagon, which is clean enough and sufficiently new-looking that it might actually live up to the posh demands of river-view living. Read more: Ram Will Still Sell You A Brand-New, 16-Year-Old Truck Ford's modern minivan has an interesting history here in America. Introduced here in 2010 after eight years as a Europe-only model, the vans left their Gölcük, Turkey factory as passenger vans with windows and a back seat. Once hitting the docks in Baltimore, Maryland, those elements were stripped out and handed off to the recyclers, replaced by metal walls and no back seat. This was all an attempt to circumvent the 25 percent import tariff (the infamous "Chicken Tax") that had long been levied on light commercial vehicles. Ford spent years in court trying to defend this practice, eventually having its hand forced when declining sales for all sorts of small vans here in the States ended Transit Connect imports entirely. Another interesting bit of Transit Connect history is that the current one, rebadged as the Toureno Connect and still sold outside the U.S., isn't even a Ford at all, but is a re-badged version of VW's entrant in the category, the Caddy van. That's all water under the bridge, or by the river, as it were, since this Transit Connect was first sold. It also didn't suffer the ignominy of having its innards ripped out and its windows boarded over as this model—the XLT Premium Wagon—was sold here as a passenger vehicle and hence avoided the 25 percent tariff from the get-go. Ford's intent with this model was to target taxi services and ride-shares. The model has five seats and seatbelts along with windows all around, but trades the typical minivan third row for a cavernous load area. Those rear seats can be removed to make the cargo space even bigger. Ford only sold the XLT in high-roof, long wheelbase form, so there's plenty of room to spread out and even wear a hat in here. You might want to doff that chapeau in honor of this 30,000-mile XLT's condition, which the ad touts as having "Not a single flaw." This is also a bit more posh than the van versions, having been outfitted with larger alloy wheels, cruise control, and standard AirCon. On the outside, the silver paint appears to be in excellent condition and is nicely complimented by the standard black plastic trim on the wheel arches and rub strips. Sliding doors on both sides provide excellent access to the rear seats—or to remove them. Those seats, along with the front buckets, are upholstered in a funky-patterned cloth fabric. That, and all the interior plastics, show absolutely zero signs of wear. There was only one drivetrain available in these, a 2.0-liter, 236 horsepower Duratec four and four-speed automatic driving the front wheels. It's nothing exciting, but does offer combined mileage in the mid-20s. Per the ad, the van's mechanicals are up to snuff as well, as both engine and gearbox have recently received a full fluid and filter service. Other incentives include a clean title and current registration. The seller calls this an "unusual 2012 Transit Connect," which seems accurate seeing as very few non-commercial versions were sold here and fewer than that have been kept in museum-quality condition as this one seemingly has. Could that make its $16,500 asking price a workable deal What do you say? Is this rare but kinda weird Transit Connect worth that kind of cash? Or is that way too much, even just to honor Chris Farley's memory? You decide! Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears. Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up via email and send me a fixed-price tip. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
