Is Mayo hotel saga finally coming to an end after 15 years?

Just when it seemed that the prospects of the former Imperial Hotel at the Mall in Castlebar reopening as a hotel were truly dead and buried, it seems some light has been detected at the end of a seemingly dark tunnel.

News has filtered out from Aras an Chontae, the headquarters of Mayo County Council, that senior officials are actively engaging with one of the four investors who replied to an advertisement in The Connaught Telegraph last May seeking expressions of interest from those willing to purchase and reopen the property, closed since 2009, as a hotel.

Very few other details are known at this point, but the fact the story has broken in the first place suggests that proverbial white smoke may be spotted rising over the Mall within the coming months.

It is known, however, that the interested party is a person who already owns a number of small hotels in the region and would be keen to start work on the Castlebar site if and when he secures its ownership.

While the elected members of Castlebar Municipal District and Mayo County Council must give their blessing to the sale, it is difficult to see that being a problem.

But you can never be quite sure because, first and foremost, they will need to be reassured that substantial funding allocated to transform the building into a innovation hub will be ring-fenced for another project within the proposal 'urban core' rejuvenation project.

The Imperial Hotel has been lying empty for 15 years now and, in essence, it is little more than a derelict site, albeit a very historic one, the Land League having been founded there in August 1879 by Michael Davitt, James Daly and other major figures of Irish history.

Its back story makes it the perfect location for a boutique hotel which would give lovers of Irish history the opportunity to spend time in such an auspicious building.

But it goes without saying that if this sale is completed, the new owner will face a mammoth task in restoring it to its former glory and turning it into a profit-making operation.

So if his plan is a solid one and he is committed to the task in hand, he should be warmly welcomed to Castlebar and given every assistance he needs to bring fresh life back to one of the county town's most beautiful locations.

The debate has gone on for long enough.

The truth is that Castlebar needs its Imperial Hotel back and nothing should be allowed to stop that process.