Castlebar Imperial purchase a ‘vanity project’ – Ring

Castlebar Imperial purchase a ‘vanity project’ – Ring


Anton McNulty

The fallout over the decision by Mayo County Council and Castlebar Town Council to purchase the Imperial Hotel continued this week with the Minister of State, Michael Ring calling it a ‘vanity project’ that the council could not afford. The decision to purchase the hotel was made in the same week that the council announced it plans to lay off 152 staff.
Last week the Minister was told to ‘butt out’ of Castlebar’s business by Labour councillor Harry Barrett when he questioned the decision to purchase the hotel. Minister Ring hit back at Cllr Barrett and reiterated his position regarding the hotel, saying the council can not afford it.
“This is an outrageous situation, does the County Council not realise that the IMF are in the country? The Council are €9 million in debt, and yet they can pay €800,000 to buy the hotel. That is how the country has got into the mess it is in now, buying stuff it cannot afford. There are people out there who are not able to pay their mortgages, and there are cutbacks, and yet Mayo County Council expects the taxpayer to pick this up while they are €9 million in debt. This is a vanity project by the council, which is living above its means,” he told The Mayo News.
The Junior Minister for Sport and Tourism lashed out at Cllr Barrett saying that it is time he ‘live in the real world’. Minister Ring also defended his entitlement to speak on a Castlebar matter.
“I have got a mandate from the people of Castlebar when they voted for me in the General Election. They rejected Cllr Barrett in the DΡil and County Council elections and I am a public representative for the people of County Mayo. People have contacted me and they are outraged that they can buy this building and yet look to lay off 152 staff in Mayo County Council,” he said.
The Imperial Hotel is a historic building in Castlebar. The Irish Land League was founded there by Michael Davitt. Minister Ring said he would love to see the building saved by the State but it just cannot afford it. He added that NAMA Ireland has the biggest land bank in the world, and he said that if the council wanted property they should take it out of NAMA.
At the special meeting of Mayo County Council to discuss the staff cuts in the council, County Manager Peter Hynes defended the decision to purchase the hotel on a 50/50 basis with Castlebar Town Council. He said the purchase was at a price that was 30 per cent less than what the building was worth, adding that the aim of the purchase was to have all the civic centres located around the Mall.