Best ‘foodie destination’ in Ireland? Ten make the shortlist

Ten locations have been shorlisted for the best "foodie destination" in Ireland.

Boyne Valley, Cong in Co Mayo, Derry, the Dublin coastal villages of Howth, Malahide and Skerries, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo, The Burren and The Loop Head Peninsula in Co Clare have all been selected by the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

The Foodie Destinations initiative was originally part of the Irish Restaurant Awards but has proved to be so popular it became its own entity in 2015. The Burren won it last year and is going for the two in a row.

It is given to a destination where there are a cluster of high-quality places to eat. These include not just restaurants, but food festivals and farmers’ markets.

Independent assessors

It aims to highlight local food tourism initiatives across the country.

Each of these 10 finalists will now receive a pre-arranged visit by a pair of independent assessors in the coming weeks.

This assessment will be combined with a national public voting campaign where the public can choose their winning foodie destination out of the 10 finalists; this can be done through foodiedestinations.ieBoth components will carry equal weight in the overall score.

The winning town/destination will be crowned Foodie Destination of Ireland 2016 on September 29th.