Deirdre McGlone enjoying life after sale of Donegal's iconic Harvey's Point Hotel

In March 2016 Deirdre McGlone became the fifth woman to be selected as Donegal Person of the Year.
Well known in the hotel business and well respected, until that night she had kept her thoughts very much to herself.
As she stood before the packed attendance it became quickly obvious that the Ballintra woman was much more than an outstanding hotelier and by the time her year was over, she had turned her selection into a ‘cause’ to attract more and more people to Ireland, but more importantly, to Donegal.
“I don’t like using the words ‘ambassador for Donegal,’ but if I’m honest, that’s what I decided I would do in that position in the belief that I could talk up my county and in some way help others in business, in the tourism business in particular.
“I went to New York and I did what I called ‘The Gathering’ as a follow on to the national Gathering idea that had been promoted for the entire country. I felt Donegal should be out doing our own gathering, but we weren’t ready for that, there wasn’t enough unity or collaboration at that time.
“I did my own thing and I got support from Tourism Ireland which was great. I reached out to the Donegal Association in New York with whom I have a great relationship and then that indirectly led to my input into the very recent and successful Donegal Connect event in which Donegal County Council played a vital and leading role.”
When her year was done it was clear she had had an impact and Stephen McCahill who followed her as DPY 2016 also took up the mantle of pushing Donegal.

Invitation

Her role hasn't gone unnoticed and she was invited by Donegal County Council to operate in a similar role for their huge 2019 Connect event - another former winner of the Donegal Person of the Year award, Packie Bonner, joined her in that project.
She likes to succeed and makes no apologies for that, but she admits that in the hotel there were a few wry smiles when she was named as winner:
“They laughed at me in Harvey’s Point (in a nice way) because I always chased the awards for the hotel.
“I did that because I felt that seeking to win awards helped raised the standard of what you are doing, so I make no apolgy for that, the awards we won as a team for the hotel, capped probably by the Trip Advisor Best Hotel, was a big deal for all of us.
“It’s a recognised accolade across the world and it is important in more than being just another award.
“So, knowing that about me, there was a smile or two when I was announced/won the Donegal Person of the Year Award, but the lovely thing about that recognition was that you can’t ‘go’ for it, it’s not like the hotel awards, it’s a much more personal thing.”

All change

Since the sale of the hotel earlier this year, things have changed and it has taken her some time to get used to a less manic, but still busy lifestyle: “We weren’t under any pressure to change our lifestyle, but there comes a time when you need to step back and step out before it gobbles you up.
“I feel now I can be ‘a normal mammy’ now and I can still be ‘running’ doing the things I like and want to do.”

The future
One of the things that becomes glaringly obvious talking to Deirdre, is her desire to see more women coming through to management roles in general, but in the hospitality industry where she has spent so much time.
“Traditionally, in my experience anyway, the men who studied hotel management went on to be hotel managers, the women didn’t follow it through because of decisions when they got married in relation to who would look after the kids - women wanted to go that route in some cases, but in other cases they felt they had no choice and a career path as a mother as opposed to a hotel manager was the option they took.
“If there were supports at that time for women who wanted to do both, I think more women would have been able to do both.”

Chance
Life is often about luck and taking a chance, Deirdre's path underlines that. After school in Sacred Heart, Ballyshannon she took a degree in European Studies in Limerick.
Typically honest, she says her degree wasn't much use to her: “I had a degree in European Studies, but I had a degree in ‘f.... all’ if I’m to be honest.”
She headed for the bright lights of London, got a job in the not so glamorous Bayswater Inn, but it paid the bills.
“Despite having a great life in college in Limerick and then in London where my sister was, I was at a crossroads and through a friend met Jody Gysling who asked me would I like to work in his guesthouse in Lough Eske. Harvey’s Point wasn’t born at that stage, I was in my early 20s and I agreed.”
Thirty years later she was still there, she met Jody's brother Marc, life, love, work, family. It was hard graft too as “everyone struggled to make it through the recession” as the business constantly evolved and grew.
“Jody was always planning something new, the 30 years have flown by,” she reflects, pausing almost to watch it on a movie reel as the memories came flooding back.
Looking back, she sums it up succinctly (and honestly): “I believe in hard work, but I also have a feeling there is karma there too, you need luck, but we trusted Jody’s vision, he took big chances and risks and they came off, yes there was good planning but some good luck along the way at times helped also.”
With more time now to take a different path and pace, Deirdre has loads she can do, what she may well decide to do is in her hands. Watch this space, 2020 will be interesting....

Also Read: Time for women in Donegal to take the lead