Gastrogays is a multi award-winning content creation brand focusing on food and travel, across the gastrogays.com website and suite of highly engaged social media platforms boasting 50,000+ audience. Together, Russell and I are also regular contributors to the wider media on the subjects of food and travel including RTÉ 2FM, RTÉ Lifestyle, Irish Times, Newstalk, TheJournal.ie, Gay Times, and several other radio and tv programmes, newspapers and food and travel titles (such as Easy Food, Olive and BBC Good Food).Aside from, as well as within, our own platforms, we work with brands one-to-one on content creation across copywriting, social and high quality photography including M&S, Bord Bia, LIDL, Guinness, Avoca, Schweppes, National Dairy Council, Bewley's, Dingle Distillery, Weber, Smirnoff, SAGE, Deliveroo, Alltech, SuperValu and more, including several EU-wide campaigns. Travel is also a mainstay of our content creation business, working closely with tourist boards and agencies to tell the story of destinations, including Boyne Valley Flavours (of which we are Ambassadors), Aer Lingus, Atout France, Discover/Failte Ireland, Cathay Pacific, Visit Sweden, Brussels Airlines, Taiwan Tourist Board, Food and Wines from Spain, StayCity and more. Our independently-produced and hosted podcast Chew The Fat is also one of the most successful and consistent in the food/arts charts in Ireland, which has run for five seasons thus far since 2018. In 2022 our debut book, Hot Fat, will be released as part of the Blasta Books series from Nine Bean Rows Books. We also run highly engaging and informative training sessions for brands to level up their social media presence, as well as cocktail classes for private groups, corporate events, brand launches and campaigns.Available for freelance writing work, brand commissions, travel opportunities, brand consultancy, sponsorship, social media training, photography and styling, recipe development and wider content creation.

Available for contracts, commissions and collaborations for digital content production, copywriting, sub-editing, ghostblogging and social media, community and wordpress management. I have extensive experience in the food industry, combining years as a journalist and blogger at RTE with industry experience writing for Roche Communications, one of London's top PR agencies as well as hands-on, results-driven social media experience for a number of brands.As a freelance food and travel journalist, I've contributed to a number of national and international publications (The Irish Times, BBC Good Food Magazine, Independent Travel, Gay Times Magazine, GNI, CARA, FlightTime, Huffington Post UK, Buzzfeed) and performed ghostwriting and sub-editing for a number of bloggers and SME businesses in the UK and Ireland. Please get in touch for rates and availability, email: hi@hanlonfreelance.com.

Sole staff writer in a brand new role at Roche Communications, a PR, marketing and design agency with over 20 years' experience as a leader in the hospitality and catering industry. Exclusively dealing with restaurant, cafe, bar and hotel clients, the portfolio includes Michelin-starred restaurants and groups (Gordon Ramsay Group, ETM, Drake & Morgan, Carluccio's, PAUL, Young's, Iberica) and hotels (Hilton, Flemings Mayfair, Down Hall, Rhug Estate) amongst many others in London and throughout the UK.My role involved all aspects of copywriting for a staff of 30 including press releases (trade and consumer), client biographies, profile features, menu and recipe editing, newsletter editing, website copy, client blogs and various other copy-related content production and sub-editing. This new position became indispensable at the company. I left in February 2016 on great terms to follow freelance opportunities in the UK and Ireland.

Two stages of experience with luxury stationery and designer gifts retailer, Paperchase. My first role was as a sales advisor in the Dundrum House of Fraser concession between 2010 and 2011. I left to pursue my internship and continuing role with RTÉ.In 2013 I rejoined the company at their branch on The Strand in central London when I relocated to London. I joined in a temporary, part-time capacity for Christmas, which was quickly succeeded by a management position in the store, which I retained throughout 2014. My role as Senior Sales involved all aspects of managing a team of 10-15 people, in a busy, centrally-located and small-sized branch with a yearly turnover of £1M+. Main duties revolved around customer service, stock control, visual merchandising, staff scheduling, cash management and banking, staff coaching and training.

Sourcing and producing content for RTE.ie, primarily on the Life & Style section of Ireland's national broadcaster's website and with a lead focus on RTÉ Food.Daily tasks included producing and sub-editing copy, sourcing images and publishing video for the website. This corresponded to a broad network of news stories, features, galleries, competitions and blogs.Daily management of all web content, as well as publishing TV series content and liasing with producers for various programmes, including MasterChef Ireland, Today, Off The Rails, Neven Maguire: Home Chef, Rachel Allen: Cake Diaries, Donal Skehan: Kitchen Hero, and Rachel Allen's Easy Meals.I facilitated and managed Twitter and Facebook profiles for various RTÉ Lifestyle brands. Notably, in just over one year, growing @RTEfood Twitter profile to attract 7,000 Twitter and also 4,500 Facebook fans. Sharp focus on brand loyalty generation and a long-term social media strategy.Liaising with third party companies and PR professionals on a daily basis, resulting in a large network of Irish and international contacts across lifestyle media.I often developed fast turnaround content for RTÉ Ten, a dedicated entertainment site, as well as for RTÉ Travel and RTÉ Homes.

Three month internship with the RTÉ Entertainment Network website - RTÉ TEN.Daily tasks included sourcing and producing entertainment news and features, as well as frequent reviews of films, albums and products, with over 100 articles published on the national entertainment website.Also received first-hand experience of interviewing and assisting on various photo and video shoots (basic set up, lighting, fashion assisting, runner). Three pieces also published in the RTÉ Guide, the commercial print magazine of RTÉ.

Four years' experience across three different Irish Subway stores (Drogheda, Balbriggan, Dublin). Given shift supervisor title and responsibilities, including cash handling, key holder duties, end of day accounts, stock control/product ordering, as well as staff training. HACCP trained in food preparation and advanced customer service. Supervisor exams completed.

Features writer for two issues in 2008-2009. Deputy editor for two issues in 2009-2010. Editor for two issues in 2010-2011. Staff role included organising meetings, feature idea generation, organising team, interviewing prospective writers and staff, training staff, chairing meetings, liasing with PR and securing interviews, liasing with printing companies as well as some design and photographic duties.