Imperial Hotel to be new Castlebar civic offices

THE former Imperial Hotel is to become the new civic offices of the Castlebar Municipal District.

Paddy Mahon, director of services, made the announcement at a meeting of the authority. He was responding to fresh complaints by elected members that unlike the three other municipal councils in the county, the Castlebar entity has been left without a permament headquarters of its own.

Despite being told that the council could hold their meetings in Aras an Chontae on a temporary basis, members were disappointed to find their July session transferred to a room in the council’s IT section, a venue previously used by the former Castlebar electoral area committee.

Councillor Al McDonnell, cathaoirleach, does not believe Aras an Chontae is suitable for district council meetings because it’s too large. And he is keen for a more suitable temporary chamber to be identified for council meetings.

Councillor Michael Kilcoyne argued it could be a number of years before the Imperial Hotel is fully refurbished. “I don’t believe funding is in place for the project, so there is no guarantee of it happening in the short to medium term,” he said.