DRAGON’S Den judge Bobby Kerr, Peter Ward of Country Choice and Sully from Cully & Sully will be the special guest speakers at the upcoming Foodies Expo in the Strand Hotel next week.

The expo is aimed at all food businesses, especially new food business start-ups or existing food businesses looking to expand or improve their current offerings and a large number of specialised food business suppliers and local food producers will be in attendance at the event.

“We are delighted to have over 30 industry experts exhibiting on the day and see this event as the ideal place for anyone looking to take the next step in the food industry as they will get the chance to meet those that can be instrumental in guiding them in the right direction,” said event organiser Brid Fox of Cater Care Ltd.

“Throughout the afternoon you will hear from a range of speakers from the food and hospitality industries who will give some useful tips and advice,” she added.

Key speakers will include Peter Ward of Country Choice and Sully from food company Cully & Sully.

Dragon’s Den judge Kerr will close the event by giving an insight into some of his inspiring experiences on the RTE show as well as his professional experiences.

Suppliers ranging from HACCP Experts, nutritional analysts, food packaging providers, marketing professionals and representatives from the Irish Patent Office will be in attendace in the Strand.

The event takes place next Wednesday, February 29, from 3-6pm.

For more information see {http://www.foodiesexpo.ie|Foodie Expo|Click here}.

LOCAL rockers the Cranberries are set for a massive outdoor home-town show in Thomond Park in July.

The band are being lined up to play in the stadium along with another high profile international act, the Limerick Leader has learned.

Stadium boss John Cantwell confirmed that Thomond Park management have met with the Cranberries and “are working hard to make sure that they play here this year”.

“Negotiations are ongoing, but yes, we are on the same page - they want to play, we want them to play here, it is just a matter of finalising the details,” said Mr Cantwell.

The Thomond Park boss refused to elaborate further, but the Leader has learned the gig is set for mid-July and that the Cranberries are set to share the stage with another “world renowned” band.

Thomond Park are believed to have offers in with three high-profile bands and are close to finalising contracts for the gig, which they are promoting themselves.

They have previously worked with Aiken Promotions to bring Elton John, Rod Stewart, Pink, Bob Dylan and JLS to the stadium.

Mr Cantwell said that Thomond Park have a “great relationship” with promoter Peter Aiken and still hope to work with him this summer.

The Cranberries are currently on tour in America and were unavailable for comment. However, a publicist for the band said that although no date was finalised for a home town gig, the band would “love to play in Limerick and especially in Thomond Park”.

The Cranberries reformed in late 2009 after a seven year absence and played a short set at the Special Olympics opening ceremony in Thomond Park in June 2010.

They are set to release their sixth studio album Roses this Friday, their first since 2001’s Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.

The group are set to kick off a massive world tour in March which will take them from New Zealand, into Asia and across Europe.

THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick-based Irish Youth Choir, which celebrates its 30th birthday this year, is seeking new members.

The choir, who performed a stirring concert in St Mary’s Cathedral in front Minister for Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan last Saturday, is hosting auditions this week and next, and is seeking young singers from Limerick to join its ranks.

The choir will host auditions for singers aged between 18 to 28 in UL next Tuesday, February 28 from 5pm and 8pm.

Each summer the choir comes together for a week of intense rehearsals, before performing in various venues around the country.

The summer rehearsal course will be delivered by internationally respected conductor Greg Beardsell, who has conducted the choir since 2007, along with a team of Irish tutors and vocal coaches at UL.

The choir membership is drawn from 11 counties, including a large cohort of Limerick people, with many UL students joining the choir in recent times. Last year the choir realised a long held ambition to create a smaller chamber choir of 24 singers, selected from within its ranks of 100 members.

Pre-registration for the auditions are essential and application forms can be downloaded from www.irishyouthchoir.ie.

FORMER European Parliament president Pat Cox is one of hundreds of well known Limerick people whose pictures are included in a unique supplement carried free with the Limerick Leader this weekend.

All Our Yesterdays, a six-part series of collectable supplements offering readers a unique look into a 30-year treasure trove of archived photographic material, will be carried free with the Leader this weekend.

One very notable inclusion in the first of the series is a picture of a young Pat Cox, dwarfed by two towering - and two years older - fellow students, with whom he made up the school’s debating team in 1967. Mr Cox, who recently moved to Dublin after 18 years living in Cork, recalled his days on the Ardscoil Rís debating team with particular fondness and said his time in the school “was the key to everything else in my life”.

Together with Joe Whelan, Thomondgate, and the now sadly deceased John Ryan, of Shelbourne Avenue, Pat reached the county final of the Safety First Organisation debating competition in 1967 while he was just an ‘inter-cert’ student in the school.

“The two lads would have been two years ahead of me in school - part of which explains the difference in size,” laughed Mr Cox, who was raised on the Ennis Road.

“I have a very clear memory of it and for any child in the school to see themselves in the Limerick Leader meant great excitement for the family and neighbours and friends, so I can actually remember the original appearing in the paper,” he explained.

“In fact, Brother Victor O’Brien, who prepared the team, kept the photo in a scrapbook and when I was in Ardscoil last year they presented the actual cut-out to me which is a lovely momento to have,” he added.

Alan English, editor of the Limerick Leader, explained that the supplements “are not intended as a comprehensive history of that time, but they will give a real sense of what life was like here in days gone by” and said he expected them to become collector’s items in time.

THIS week the Limerick Leader and Chronicle officially launched a brand new style event for the city which is being run in conjunction with the Holman Lee Modelling Agency and Bella the Makeover Studio.

Style in the City which is the first event of its kind to take place in Limerick will celebrate the very best of the city’s fashion and beauty industry and is aimed at ladies of all ages.

Commenting at the launch of the event this Monday, the Limerick Leader’s managing director, Irene Hamilton, said that she was “very excited about the unique beauty and fashion extravaganza”.

“Limerick is a super city for ladies to spoil themselves in and this event will allow us to bring together the best that Limerick has to offer. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Holman Lee Agency and Bella Makeover Studio in launching this new venture and I look forward to a fabulous day out for the ladies of Limerick,” she continued.

Featuring in the region of 50 exhibitors ‘Style in the City’ will take place in the South Court Hotel on Sunday, April 29. “It is aimed at ladies of all ages - you could bring your grandmother, mother, sister and your daughter,” said Ger Lee of the Holman Lee Agency.

“There is something for everyone,” added Jean Maguire of Bella the Makeover Studio on Michael Street.

The event begins at 11am and runs until 6pm and admission is €10. Tickets can be purchased at the Limerick Leader office, 54 O’Connell St, Limerick.