Ballina €4.5m hotel revamp

Ballina €4.5m hotel revamp


Anna Marie Flynn

A MULTI-million euro hotel is due to open its doors in Ballina later this month, creating an expected 30 jobs. 
Ballina Manor Hotel, located on Barrett Street, on the site of the former Ridgepool Hotel, has been undergoing a €4.5 million make-over over since late last year.
The project is headed up by the Castle Hotel Group, owned by Dubliner Fionn MacCumhaill.
Mr MacCuhaill has strong connections with the area and is a frequent visitor to the west of Ireland.  He invested in Ballina’s only town-centre hotel in 2009 after the former Ridgepool Hotel closed its doors after an ill-fated local consortium bid.
The refurbishment scheme is now in its final stages and the business is due to open within the next few weeks. A glass-fronted section now creates a centre-piece of the hotel, offering unrivalled views of Ballina’s River Moy and the new pedestrian Salmon Weir Bridge.  The public areas of the hotel, including the bar and function room, have been strategically designed to offer breath-taking views of the world-famous Ridgepool beat.
The hotel is expected to give a new lease of life to the town and will form a centre piece in the rejuvenation of the Barrett Street area. The reopening coincides with the €5 million redevelopment of the Ballina Theatre and Arts Centre; the €1.8 million pedestrian bridge; revamp of the Ridgepool Salmon Weirs and development of amenity area and carpark.
Plans for a salmon life interpretive centre are also in the pipeline for the Barrett Street vicinity.