A Co Tyrone woman who was instrumental in bringing one of the first pizzerias to the county has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the NI Takeaway Awards.
Marie Kelly first opened the Fairhill Pizzeria in Cookstown in 1989 with her late husband Peter.
The well-known pizza shop has been a staple of the town ever since, and Marie’s efforts were recognised at the event in the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Monday night.
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Marie’s daughter Brenda, who now runs the pizzeria with husband Barry, said her mum was ‘over the moon’ at the news.
“Mum is totally over the moon, she knew absolutely nothing about it,” Brenda said.
“She just feels real appreciation shown to her and can’t get over the fact she is that highly thought of by the community and the staff.
“I think she’s just totally blown away by the whole thing and is walking on air at the moment.
“When they first opened up we were just teenagers and we had people coming in not really knowing what a pizza was.
"It was very emotional for us all and most certainly mummy as the award was also for daddy who sadly passed away four years ago.
"I was worried how she would receive the award but she did us all proud and got up to accept it with pride on behalf of herself and daddy. It was so special to us as a family and to all the Fairhill Pizzeria family."
While Brenda and Barry run the popular pizzeria these days, Marie still lends more than a helping hand most days.
“She comes in all the time to tell me what to do and this needs to be done and that needs to be done,” Brenda laughs.
“She is constantly cracking the whip, she never stops. All the staff adore her even though she is always keeping everybody right.
“They all just really admire her and think the world of her.”
“We had a fantastic night celebrating afterwards, mummy along with us it was just lovely.”
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