Neglect of historic hotel in Mayo county town is firmly back on the agenda
Mayo County Council has a responsibility to ensure that the former Imperial Hotel is restored to a standard that does justice to its historical significance.
That is the bottom line.
The Castlebar town centre property, where the Land League - one of the most important organisations in shaping Irish social and political history - was formed, has fallen into a state of disrepair that reflects poorly on a town that consistently strives to be the best that it can be.
This neglect has been taking place well over a decade at this point and many local people who hold the building close to their hearts have been outraged by the decision of Castlebar Municipal District to seek expressions of interests from investors prepared to renovate the premises as a hotel.
This decision was taken after a leading boutique hotel group approached the council about purchasing it but changed their minds after conducting an assessment.
Against this background, the council is in receipt of a €6 million grant, as part of a €11 million allocation towards the town’s ‘urban core’, to transform new life into the property, leaving many people wondering where that money would go in the event of a sale.
In his letter, entitled ‘Romantic Castlebar is dead and gone, it’s with Davitt in his grave,’ published this week by The Connaught Telegraph, local man Dr. Richard Martin has reflected public anger over the ongoing failure to grasp the importance of safeguarding such a historic building for future generations of Irish people.
Others, including author and historian Anne Chambers, have also been to the fore in recent years in seeking action in restoring the building for historical purposes.
Selling it off to a hotel investor does not guarantee that will happen and there is also the issue of the council needing to give assurances that the €6 million earmarked for the building will still be invested in Castlebar’s ‘historical core’.
Fuelling further frustration is the delay in starting works on the ‘urban core’ project, for which funding was first announced two years ago under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) and includes works on the old post office at Mountain View and the Military Barracks site.
Even taking into account a pandemic and a sharp increase in construction costs, the delay has been excessive, creating a vacuum in which a sell-off of the former Imperial Hotel is now proposed.
The elected members of Castlebar Municipal District have a responsibility to suspend standing orders at their next meeting and reverse the decision to seek expressions of interest from investors for the property.
Then table a new motion seeking a date when works will start on the ‘urban core’ project in line with what was proposed in the URDF application.
A disappointing situation can still be salvaged - and a fitting monument put in place to great Mayo men in the calibre of Michael Davitt and James Daly.