{"id":417365,"date":"2026-04-25T19:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T19:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/417365\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T19:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T19:36:18","slug":"cork-hair-studio-that-was-almost-forced-shut-is-named-irish-salon-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/417365\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork hair studio that was almost forced shut is named Irish Salon of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

A huge honour for the city centre hair salon<\/p>\n

Valerie Finnegan Cahill of Ikon Hair Cork, Winners of Hair Salon of the Year (Image: Joleen Cronin)<\/p>\n

The best hair salon of 2026 is in Cork<\/a> – and silverware from the Irish Beauty, Hair and Spa Awards proves it.<\/p>\n

Ikon Hair Cork on Marlboro Street was named national Salon of the Year, and the team are “absolutely delighted” to have been recognised with such a prestigious title. Owner Valerie Finnegan Cahill said her business<\/a> has come through many ups and downs over the years.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a big moment for us, but what really sits behind it is how we\u2019ve built the business, from nearly closing our doors 10 years ago, to placing a strong focus on team culture, ongoing education, and creating a genuinely personalised experience for every client.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s been a steady build over the years, so it\u2019s incredibly rewarding to see that recognised on a national stage,” she added.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Valerie Finnegan Cahill and her Ikon Hair Cork team<\/p>\n

The fourth annual Beauty, Hair & Spa Awards 2026, took place on 19th April at the InterContinental in Dublin, showcasing the very best of the Irish beauty, hair and spa industries and recognising excellence in business, innovation and leadership.<\/p>\n

The Hair Salon of the Year award is sponsored by Revlon Professional and is a huge honour in the Irish hair industry. Ikon Cork really impressed the judges with its focus on marketing, innovative tools, and salon education.<\/p>\n

Valerie said that when she was “close to closing the doors” in 2016, it “forced me to completely rethink how we worked.”<\/p>\n

“What means the most to me now is that the vision we built together is fully embraced by the team. That\u2019s a big part of why I created VF Consultancy, because over the last few years, especially since Covid, I\u2019ve seen that you simply can\u2019t build anything meaningful without your team fully invested.<\/p>\n

“This recognition reflects a collective commitment to high standards, consistency and showing up every day to deliver the best possible experience for our clients. It\u2019s about making people feel seen, valued and genuinely cared for, and that\u2019s something our team delivers every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Moloney, Managing Director of Professional Beauty Group, commented: “We\u2019re incredibly proud to champion an industry that combines creativity with resilience and real community impact. These awards celebrate the innovation, passion and dedication that keep our sector thriving, while recognising the vital role salons play on our high streets. Each winner exemplifies excellence and serves as an inspiration to the entire industry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A huge honour for the city centre hair salon Valerie Finnegan Cahill of Ikon Hair Cork, Winners of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1902,72,14641,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-417365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-beauty","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cork-city","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}