Old station house restored to former glory

MAYO County Council has undertaken a massive €420,000 restoration of the old dilapidated station house at Mulranny.

The building along the greenway at the rear of Mulranny Park Hotel has been magnificently restored to its former glory and will be officially opened tomorrow (Friday, June 9).

Mr. Padraig Phibin, head of tourism with Mayo County Council, said: 'We got a grant from Michael Ring’s department through Fáilte Ireland. We started work last September.

'The restoration of the building was designed by Matt Stevens, of the architects section of Mayo County Council, and the contractor on the project was Michael Dwane.

'Brian Quinn of Fáilte Ireland came up with the idea and he was key man in getting the funding for it.

'It is going to be a services centre for greenway users. There will be bike hire facilities there, tour guide services and a kite surfing centre. The Rural Social Scheme who maintain the greenway, based out of the Leader office in Newport, will be going in there, as well as the Dark Skies community group. There will also be toilet, shower and storage facilities with locker rooms for greenway users.'

Mr. Philbin added: 'It was nice to see the building being restored. The building is owned by Mulranny Park Hotel and Mayo County Council have taken a long term lease on it on a public/private partnership.

'Natural Slaine slate went back on the roof and the contractors went as close as they could with the original features. They would have done a lot of work on preparing brick where there were sections where brick was missing. They put in sash windows and kept the traditional look on it. It has also some very modern features. It is very energy efficient with underfloor heating.'

Mr. David O’Connor, director, Great National Hotels, owners of Mulranny Park Hotel, thanked Mayo County Council for the restoration work on the old railway building. He said: 'I was delighted to see the old railway building rebuilt. It looks absolutely outstanding.'