NOffLA Off-Licence of the Year Awards

has also seen a spike in spirits sales, but McHugh’s have gone a step further than many other off-licences in a bid to capture the hearts of cocktail consumers.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in demand for cocktails,” Cathal stressed. “We like to think of ourselves as being innovative and bringing new things to market, so we created our own brand of cocktails, called Shake Me.”

McHugh’s restaurant in Portmarnock employs two mixologists, who batch-make cocktails and bottle them. “They are made with top quality ingredients and great expertise,” Cathal explained. “We have a core range of four cocktails – Margaritas, Cosmopolitans, Old Fashioneds and Porn Star Martinis – which were launched during lockdown and they’re still going very strong.”

Cathal McHugh is adamant that the independent off-licence sector in Ireland continues to thrive because is offers a level of service, expertise and a range that multiple supermarkets cannot compete with.

“It’s the team that we have, the knowledge that we have and our willingness to impart that knowledge to customers,” he insisted. “Our specialist range across wines, beers and spirits is considerable; we feel we are strong across all three categories. If someone is coming in for that special bottle of wine, or they’re looking for a particularly wide range of beers, or a premium whiskey or gin, they know that we will have it, that we will be able to answer any questions they may have about it and point them in the right direction. Supermarkets by their nature dumb down the off-licence offering; it tends to be a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Whereas, we can be a bit more adventurous.”

The store owner was thrilled when McHugh’s was named as the NOffLA Off-Licence of the Year for 2023. “You always go into the competition with hope and expectation and sometimes you’re disappointed, but we were cautiously optimistic this year and we were delighted to win,” he revealed. “Part of the winning of this award was that we invested heavily in 2021 in our Artane shop. We were delighted with the results of that refurbishment.”

Indeed, McHugh’s are currently in the process of revamping their other off-licence in Kilbarrack.

The team at McHugh’s will be making the most of their win in the coming weeks, ensuring their customers are aware of the award: “We’ll be making up signs, hanging bunting and doing everything we can to publicise our win. It gives us something to shout about and hopefully our customers agree that we are worthy winners.”