Forecourt operator Applegreen will open Ireland’s first Taco Bell restaurant in September as part of a €15 million investment in a new motorway service area on the M3 in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.
The company is creating just over 100 jobs at the new service area, which will also include an M&S Food shop-in-shop outlet, a new Braeburn Coffee café, a Burger King restaurant, and Crafted, Applegreen’s bespoke new deli offering.
The new service area will also have an Applegreen convenience store, a service station forecourt, and, initially, eight ultra-Fast EV charging ports, capable of speeds up to 400kW. More chargers will come onstream when further power is available at the site.
Seamus Stapleton, managing director of Applegreen’s Irish business, said the group plans to open several additional Taco Bell restaurants at its Irish locations over the next five years.
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The Dunshaughlin facility is Applegreen’s largest single investment project in Ireland this year. It will cover almost 10 acres and will be the largest EV charging hub on the M3.
Meanwhile, Certa, another forecourt operator, is opening its 25th hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel site in Ireland this week in Portlaoise.
The company, which is part of industrial conglomerate DCC, said it was responding to increasing demand from diesel drivers who are choosing the renewable fuel.
HVO is produced from waste plant matter and can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for engine modifications. It can help motorists lower their carbon emissions by between 65 per cent and 90 per cent.
Certa said demand for HVO is being driven by diesel drivers “who want to go green but who have put off switching to an EV for a variety of reasons”.
[ Why is it costing me more to use green fuel in my car than fossil fuels?Opens in new window ]
The company said these include the cost of buying an EV, the lack of charging infrastructure across the State, and not having their own driveway or off-street parking where they can install a home charger.
Certa opened Ireland’s first fully fledged HVO fuel station in Liffey Valley in late 2023 at a cost of €1 million.
Fifteen of the 25 HVO fuel sites that Certa currently operates have opened over the past eight months and the company has plans to open five more sites later this year.
