THE Three Way Inn, located on the Sligo Road, Enniskillen has held a special place in the hearts of local folk for a number of generations, and now the popular establishment will open its doors once again – only this time with Tyrone man Jude O’Donnell at the helm.
With an aim to build on the success and reputation that is already associated with this long-standing bar and restaurant, it would appear that sky is truly the limit for the Aghyaran man and all those involved with the new venture.
“It came along very quickly, within the space of a month really and now we will be taking over The Three Way Inn from March 1,” explained Jude.
“I have about 17 years experience because of the family bars which we have ran over the years. My father Sean has been on the bar trade for over 40 years and we work really well together as a business partner and also a best friend.
“Over the past 17 years I’ve been working alongside him in different premises, always gaining experience and learning from him day in and day out.”
Jude, who along with the help of his father Sean previously ran The Corner Bar in Ederney, revealed that while The Three Way Inn will be something extremely new to them.
And he counts himself lucky to have “struck gold” in terms of recruiting a chef from Strabane to help with the food and restaurant side of things.
“He’s very intelligent and he’s been in the chef work for 40 years,” Jude told the Herald.
“He knows his stuff and we’re very excited about that in terms of menus and what we will offer. He is very into his presentation and has fantastic ideas.
“We will be serving food from Thursday right through until Sunday, using all local produce and everything will be fresh.”
Jude also revealed his plans to put some country back into Enniskillen by offering live entertainment each weekend for music lovers and jiving enthusiasts!
“I have spoken to a lot of people and they mentioned that country music is one thing people are stuck for in Enniskillen.
“If you’re going out for a night in Enniskillen, there’s a lot out there for people ranging from the age of 18 to 40.
“However, if you’re 40 plus and you want to go and do a bit of dancing, or listen to live country music there’s not a ot of places out there at the minute.
“There is a massive opportunity for us in terms of offering live entertainment as the venue has a great dance floor with a large bar and I think it’s something that we could really make work.”
Giving a brief taste of what locals can expect, Jude revealed, “I already have live bands booked for every single Saturday night from March 5, right through to January next year.
“We have Mick Flavin booked for Friday, March 11, and again before Christmas and we are working on a few other big names.”
Jude added, “Since announcing the news via social media last week that we would be taking over The Three Way Inn, we must of had over 1,500 new followers to our Facebook page.
“We have lots of plans for the near future and I’ll be looking to tap into the local tourism industry and all the beautiful attractions that are around Fermanagh such as Cuilcagh Mountain, to give people an incentive to stop with us.”
Speaking on the accommodation that will also be available, Jude said, “We have a total of four bedrooms all consisting of essentials which include flat screen TVs and en-suite bathrooms.
“My wife Emma is looking after the design of them as we really want to put our wee mark on things even though the accommodation has only recently been done-up.
“The accommodation should be up and running from March when we open and it will be great especially coming towards the summer months as tourism in Fermanagh is just massive.
“I’m very confident that alone will go down quite well.”
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