Watch: 'I’m gobsmacked - I’m normally not lost for words but am now'

Barrie Quinn from Portnoo Market Garden gave his father JR a wonderful Christmas gift - with a little help from iMotors.

Narin native Barrie was offered the chance to be an ambassador for iMotors in Drumkeen, to drive one of their top-of-the-range, Kia GV9, but had a different idea in mind.

Barrie suggested to iMotors that the car would be more appropriate for his father and decided to keep the plan a secret. So he told JR they were travelling to Drumkeen to do a review on the car.

After 20 minutes of so spinning around the Letterkenny area, they returned and thanked Seamus McLaughlin from iMotors for the chance to experience driving the car.

“Absolutely fantastic,” JR said on the car before Barrie told him: “I haven’t been too honest with you today. We’re not here to do a car review. That’s your car.”

“Happy 2025,” said Seamus. “That’s from your son and iMotors.”

“I’m gobsmacked,” JR replied. “I’m normally not lost for words but am now.”

“My social media presence has given me opportunities to collaborate with brands and a local car dealership here in Donegal called iMotors approached me this year to see if I would be an ambassador for them,” Barrie told DonegalLive. “iMotors offered to give me an amazing vehicle, the fully electric Kia EV9, but I felt before I get something like that I need to give back to my dad first’

JR turned 72 at the start of December and has been a driving force in the success of Portnoo Market Garden since its establishment in the winter of 2020.

From 4am starts to 11pm finishes in the peak of the season, JR has worked tirelessly to give Barrie the best opportunity for Portnoo Market Garden to succeed.

“JR has never really received much for his efforts, he’s just that type of father that wanted to see me succeed and wanted us to build a successful business,” Barry added.

Barrie has over 530,000 followers and has had more than 150 million video views in 2024. It's been a roller coaster year on social media with more than 450,000 new followers joining in the last 12 months.

“I’ve been told that opportunities would come from having a successful social media presence, but I’ve said from the start, that if I was ever fortunate enough to be offered a car then I’d do my best to get JR involved,” Barrie said. “I was just lucky enough that iMotors and Kia Ireland saw my vision and wanted the get behind the idea.”

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Barrie will be touring Ireland in 2025 with guest speaker slots at events, farm-to-fork restaurant experiences and spreading the word about the benefits of organic and chemical-free gardening. Subscribe to his newsletter for up-to-date information on events near you on the Portnoo Market Garden website. 

Portnoo Market Garden is a two-acre chemical-free farm located in Portnoo. Established in 2020, Barrie Quinn focuses on growing eight types of vegetables and works with 14 independent retailers across Donegal to supply his customers.

Barrie is an advocate of the Grow Your Own movement and uses his platform to inspire followers to grow their own food or make better choices around food. A conservative estimate is Barrie has inspired more than 3,000 people to start growing their own food.

iMotors is a family-run business established in 1971. iMotors is the main distributor for Kia, Nissan and Isuzu in the North West and has showrooms in Malin and Letterkenny.