A new Plaza Group service station in Loughrea has opened its doors with the creation of over 60 jobs locally. The Loughrea Service Station consists of Supermac’s, a Supermac’s Drive Thru, Papa John’s, Mac’s Place Deli, Moo Parlour and a Bewley’s Barista. It will join the Galway Plaza and the newly opened N17 Plaza in Tuam as part of The Plaza Group of motorway and national route service stations in Co Galway and will bring to 24 the number of outlets in Galway city and county. The group also owns the LoughRea Hotel and Spa, bringing to over 1,600 the number of people employed in the county.

The Supermac’s and Plaza Group Managing Director, Pat McDonagh, said that the Plazas were proving to be a very popular option for customers looking for convenient, quality food. “Both myself and Una are delighted to be opening a new facility in Loughrea where we have employed a lot of local staff and we look forward to welcoming people to the Loughrea Service Station in the coming weeks,” he said. “Whether you are on the move for business or leisure or are going to the match, the Plazas provide the variety and quality that our customers are looking for and our Drive-Thru option here at the Loughrea Service Station is a convenient new addition to what we can offer our customers in the area.” he said.

Supermac’s is Ireland’s largest indigenous quick-service restaurant chain. The franchise currently has 119 outlets across the country and the Loughrea Service Station joins the Galway Plaza, the N17 Plaza, the Kinnegad Plaza, the Barack Obama Plaza, the Portlaoise Plaza, the Mallow N20 Plaza, the Tipperary Town Plaza and the Charlestown Service Station as part of the motor services businesses developed on key national roads.

Galway football captain, Seán Kelly, presents a signed jersey to the Galway GAA sponsor Pat McDonagh at the newly opened Loughrea Service Station.

Keep the kids busy during the COVID – 19 lock down. Try some of the fun games and colouring competitions we’ve created especially to take your mind off things and test your logical abilities below. There is something for everyone, whether you prefer puzzles, colouring inside the lines… or colouring in your own way! We love to see different interpretations of our colouring sketches and wholly encourage everyone to be as creative as they like!

The Boredom Busting puzzles are specifically designed to test observation & navigation skills, with quick quizzes on general knowledge and random fun facts. The puzzles are of varying difficulty, suited to children at varied key development stages, so there is something for everyone.

Check out the selection from our colouring book below with a fantastic range of funky owls in the night sky, dressed up pizza slices, Papa – our chief baker and tasty meals, your own way.

Completing these puzzles and colour sketches could not be more simple. Simply screenshot or click the link to download – and edit straight from a smartphone or tablet device.

We do warn you though, adults may require children’s assistance for some of these!

Colour in the owl

Click here to download

Find the correct path out of the oven

Click here to download

Can you figure out who scored the goal? Enjoy this quick quiz and strange facts

Click here to download

Colour in the pizza slice

Click here to download

Colour in the pizza wheel

Click here to download

Colour in the T-rex

Click here to download

There is a whole selection of Boredom Busters on to check out over on our buddy, Supermac’s website.  Take a look by clicking here!

Papa John’s Statement

Due to the ever changing challenges presented by the health crisis and in the interests of our staff and customers, Papa John’s, as part of the Supermac’s team, would like to announce the following:

1. All outlets will be closed by Thursday, March, 26th, at 7pm. This is to allow the emergency services that are using the outlets for food to make alternative arrangements.
2. All seating areas in our lobbies will close tonight and remain closed.

We would like to thank our staff and customers in these challenging times. We would also like to thank the emergency services personnel and wish them well in their efforts in the unprecedented times.

The Plaza Group is one of Ireland’s leading independent motorway and primary route services group, and is celebrating the launch of its exciting new website – www.plazagroup.ie

The Galway Plaza is situated off Junction 16 on the M6 Galway to Dublin motorway. It is conveniently located close to the super-junction of the M6 and M17/18 motorways. It has a wide range of food offerings including the iconic Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs, Mac’s Place Deli and a Bewley’s Barista as well as a state of the art filling station and a Spar Convenience shop. The Galway Plaza has a large visitors information wall where tourists can get information on local attractions.

The Kinnegad Plaza opened it’s doors on the 31st of May 2019 and is a one stop shop for all your needs when you are making the journey along the M4. The new motor way service station is the latest addition to The Plaza Group. It features a food court consisting of a Supermac’s, a Papa Johns Pizza, a SuperSubs, Macs Diner Deli, a Bewleys Coffee counter, as well as a large spacious seating area. There is also a Spar shop and Texaco fuel pumps which are open 24hrs. The plaza also has four rapid EV charging points for electric vehicles, to cater for Ireland’s growing electric car fleet.

The Barack Obama Plaza is a purpose-built motorway service station located at Junction 23 on the M7 Dublin to Limerick motorway. The Barack Obama Plaza opened in 2014 and has a vast variety of food offerings including Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs, Mac’s Place Bakery & Deli and a Bewley’s Coffee Barista. The Barack Obama Plaza also has state-of-the-art conference facilities as well as The Barack Obama Visitors Centre

The Tipperary Town Plaza is a purpose built state-of-the-art fuel forecourt, convenience store and food court offering exciting brands including Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs, Mac’s Place Bakery & Deli, Bewley’s Coffee, Topaz and Spar. The Tipperary Town Plaza is located at the Bohercrowe roundabout on the main Limerick to Tipperary road and is open 7 days a week

The Mallow N20 Plaza is a purpose-built service station, conveniently located on the Limerick road in Mallow. It has a large selection of food offerings including the iconic Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs and Mac’s Place Deli as well as a state of the art filling station and a Spar Convenience shop.

The Charlestown Service Station is conveniently located on the N17 just off the N5 in County Mayo. The Charlestown Service Station offers a wide range for motorists including Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs and a Bewley’s Coffee Dock. The Charlestown Service Station also offers Top Oil Fuel and a Spar Convenience shop.

We were delighted to recently get an opportunity to meet the Galway GAA Super Fan John Tobin.

John was gracious enough to allow our cameras to be part of his build up to the big Connacht Final between his beloved Galway and his Mother Anne’s home county Roscommon.

Check out our new three-part series “The Untold Stories” An amazing story of a remarkable and inspirational young man who loves everything about Galway GAA.

Part 1 – Meeting John

In the first part, we meet John on the Market Square in Roscommon Town where he has a weekly stall selling arts and crafts. There was great fun and banter between John and the Roscommon people as they counted down to the Connacht Final.

Part 2 – Build Up To The Big Game

In the second part, we got the opportunity to go to John’s home, talk to John’s mother, Anne, and be part of the excitement and build up as John got ready to set of to Pearse Stadium for the big match.

Part 3 – Game Time

In the third part, we got to go behind the scenes with John in Pearse Stadium before the match and John even got to meet Marty Morrissey.

The GAA show returned to screens recently after a 10-year absence and the producers are on the lookout for the next big stars. Players are put through their paces on the show by 3 All Ireland winning players – Galway’s Ray Silke, Kerry’s Paul Galvin and Cork’s Valerie Mulcahy.

This series follows unknown players, as they are trained and mentored by the coaches before they face the All Ireland Champions, Dublin, in October. The previous series of Underdogs was responsible for launching many present inter-county stars and All-Ireland winners’ careers including Kerry’s Kieran Donaghy and Cork’s Pearse O’Neill.

Many young players from all corners of Ireland will attempt to make the final cut on the Underdogs team that will play All Ireland Champions, Dublin, all fighting for the limited number of positions.

Battling it out for a position on the full forward line is Gary O’Daly, a Leitrim native from St Mary’s GAA and joining him on the quest is Cormac Doohan from Ballaghadereen, Co. Roscommon. Also hoping to get a final spot in the forwards are 3 young Donegal players, Callum Gallagher of Naomh Bríd, Michael Molloy of Kilcar and Daragh Murrin of Duninkeely.

Two young Kerry men are also hoping to claim a final spot on the team. DJ Murphy from Gneeveguilla is looking at making the cut at full back and Darragh O’Shea from Ballydonoghue GAA will be hoping to secure a final spot in the Goalkeeper position. Also looking to hold on to the position of goalkeeper is Blake Forkan who is originally from Killtimagh but now plays football with St. Eunan’s in Letterkenny.

Trevor Murtagh from St Barry’s GAA Club and Eamonn O Donaghue from Padraig Pearses, two other young Roscommon men, will be hoping to secure a final spot at wing back with Enda Fleming from Corofin, Galway, looking at making the cut in either the half back or half forward line. Fintan O Cuanaigh a fellow Galwegian from An Spidéal and St James’ GAA Clubs will be hoping to land a final spot in the midfield position.

Supermac’s Managing Director, Pat McDonagh said “We were delighted to get the opportunity to be involved with this show as Supermac’s is synonymous with the GAA having sponsored teams throughout the country for the last 40 years. Our 28-year relationship with Galway GAA is one of the longest inter-county relationships in the GAA. Becoming an inter-county player is a privilege only a few individuals get to achieve and there are many great players that never quite make it to that level. The great thing about Underdogs is that it gives those players a 2nd chance and what better way to prove themselves that to pit themselves against the best team in the country – The Dubs,” Mr. McDonagh said.

The programme airs every Thursday at 9:30pm and repeated on Saturdays at 7.45pm on TG4 with the final set to take place mid-October where The Underdogs will take on All Ireland Champions Dublin.