LETTER: Romantic Castlebar is dead and gone, it’s with Davitt in the grave
Sir,
I feel compelled to write to The Connaught Telegraph concerning the recent developments with regard to the Imperial Hotel, Castlebar.
I want to express my anger, disappointment, and disillusionment at the current state of affairs regarding the property.
We have a historic building of huge national importance and significance at the heart of the town, which is a mere two hundred meters directly across from the County Council buildings, and it has fallen into a state of disrepair and dereliction.
It is a total and utter outrage and shows a total and absolute lack of civic pride.
Michael Davitt is one of the major figures in Irish history over the last 200 years.
He was born in Straide. He was from Mayo. He was a Mayo man. He is someone that we should be immensely proud of.
He founded the Land League in Castlebar in the Imperial Hotel and, for the past 13 years, it has fallen into decay and ruin.
Mayo County Council received over €11 million from the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage in the spring of 2020.
The funds were intended to carry out restoration on a number of projects, including the Imperial Hotel.
A sum of €6 million was set aside ”to transform the Imperial Hotel into an innovation hub."
This building belongs to the Mayo County Council and the people of Mayo.
Six million euro is currently there to renovate it and restore it to its former glory.
There could and should be a permanent exhibition devoted to the life of Michael Davitt and his role in the formation of the Land League and the pivotal role the movement played in removing the tyranny of British rule in this part of the island.
A renovated Imperial Hotel could exhibit a wide range of history from the DeBarras to 1798 to Lord Lucan and then the formation of the Land League.
Once renovated, exhibitions could be alternated with the Davitt Museum in Straide, the Museum of Country Life, and the National Museum of Ireland.
Now that Mary Robinson Centre is up and running (the councillors in the Ballina Municipal District had no objection to spending €1.5 million of the county council’s money), the two centres could and should collaborate and work together.
Along with showcasing historical exhibitions a renovated building could serve as a community hub, a coffee shop, chess club, bridge club, art exhibitions, a hub for people who work from home, etcetera. The possibilities are endless.
The Imperial Hotel should be seen as a cultural and historical issue, not one for enterprise or, even worse, local government.
It should be a focal point of civic pride much the same way as we look upon the Mayo Peace Park, which took years of sacrifice by a local man and cooperation with a local business.
The fact that only two of the councillors in the Castlebar Municipal District (Cllrs. K.Gavin and M. Kilcoyne) voted in favour of using the funds available and renovating the building and using it as a public amenity - and the other five voted in favour of selling it off to private enterprise - is nothing short of disgraceful.
Was it for this the wild geese spread?
If the building is sold to a private investor it raises some important points.
Firstly, if the building is sold what happens to the €6 million that was allocated towards renovating it?
Is the money then spent in other parts of the county? In other municipal districts?
So, in essence, five of the seven councillors in the Castlebar Municipal district voted to not spend €6 million in the town?
Also, if the sale goes ahead, what happens to the proceeds of the sale?
Is that money kept in the town spent on a project/club within the town (Castlebar Celtic) or in Ballintubber, Carnacon or Islandeady?
If the councillors in the Castlebar Municipal District can’t come together and vote in favour of spending €6 million in the county town, it’s very unlikely that the councillors in the other municipal districts will do so.
We have become a complete and total laughing stock.
It’s a small wonder that you can’t find a signpost for Castlebar outside of the county.
Our representation at the local and national levels has become an embarrassment.
Secondly, how do we know that the prospective buyer will renovate the building to the standard that is required?
Taking on a project of this magnitude would require a huge initial capital investment and then the hotel has to be run as a going concern.
If and when the hotel becomes operational it would take a considerable period of time before the investment is profitable from the perspective of net present values.
In the current economic climate with high-interest rates and rising inflation as a consequence of the Russian war, and the huge increases in the cost of materials and labour, it’s highly unlikely that a savvy businessperson is going to take the project on.
And, thirdly, we were told last September that a deal had been done with a ’leading boutique hotel chain’ and that the council reached a decision to ’dispose of the property after securing a commitment that its unique history will be restored and preserved for future generations.’
Why did the deal fall through?
There is a complete vacuum of information.
In short, Mayo County Council need to act urgently and decisively.
Spending money on this project and renovating the Imperial Hotel is taxpayers’ money well spent.
The people of the town, county, and country will all benefit from a revitalised building with so much history and prominence.
In closing, I can’t but help think of Michael Davitt.
And if he were walking amongst us today, what would he make of it all?
He came from a society of huge inequality, no social justice, famine, crippling rent, landlords, starvation, and mass emigration, and a parliament in London that looked upon the plight of the people of Mayo with disdain and indifference.
Today, we have an intractable housing crisis, vulture funds, mass emigration, a generation of 30-something-year-olds living with their parents, greedy landlords, a cost of living crisis, and a local and national government that cannot and will not get to grips with the social issues and inequality we have in our society today.
Romantic Castlebar is dead and gone, it's with Davitt in the grave.
Yours Sincerely
Dr. Richard Martin,
Castlebar.