Westport House fate hangs in the balance

Government funding, commitment from Council needed – Hynes

Neill O’Neill & Edwin McGreal

THE future of Westport House and the adjoining estate was the subject of high-level discussions in the past week. On Friday evening, at a public gathering in Westport, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring said he is working ‘behind the scenes’ to make sure the iconic tourist attraction and historic stately home do not fall into private ownership.
The matter was also discussed at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council yesterday, with Council Chief Executive Peter Hynes revealing that any potential resolution will require financial support from central government and a commitment from Mayo County Council.
This is the only indication that has been put on the record so far as to what, if any, state intervention might come as a result of the high-level but sensitive ongoing discussions. Both Minister Ring and Mr Hynes were remaining tight lipped about the matter and refused to be drawn further on it, though Mr Hynes did state that the discussions are ongoing with NAMA and have the support of all Mayo-based members of the Oireachtas.
Fears have been expressed over the future of the property, which has been in the Browne family for almost four centuries, after The Mayo News revealed that loans attaching to the estate have been placed up for sale by NAMA as part of their ‘Project Arrow’ portfolio.
“In relation to Westport House I am aware of the concerns regarding the future of Westport House. These concerns have been brought to my attention by a number of local representatives in the Westport area and by the Economic and Development Strategic Policy Committee,” Mr Hynes said yesterday.
“There are ongoing discussions with the National Asset Management Agency. These discussions have the support of all Mayo members of the Oireachtas and have been facilitated by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport [Michael Ring]. Any resolution will require financial support from central government and a commitment from this council. I’m not in a position to disclose any further details at this time but discussions are ongoing, and I will keep the council apprised of developments and look forward to your continued support in this line of action.”

‘Sensitive’
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Michael Holmes, described the matter as a ‘sensitive issue’.
“We are all very concerned about it. Not alone does Westport depend upon Westport House but all of Mayo and the west of Ireland depends on it. It is a sensitive, delicate situation which we don’t want to be making worse. I’d prefer if we didn’t have a debate on it, it might make the situation worse,” he said, though Westport Town’s three County Councillors – Cllr Christy Hyland, Cllr Brendan Mulroy and Cllr Tereasa McGuire – along with Cllr Michael Kilcoyne from Castlebar, also spoke on the matter.
Locally, there have been calls for action, and a public meeting on the matter has been arranged for this evening (Tuesday) at Westport Town Hall at 7.30pm.
Speaking to a large crowd in Westport at the unveiling of Ronin Halpin’s sculpture ‘The Sentinel’,  officially performed by US Ambassador to Ireland Kevin O’Malley on Friday, Minister Ring said he could not let the occasion pass without mentioning the issues surrounding Westport House.
“There is an issue with Westport House and I just want to reassure the people of the town and surrounding areas that the council and myself are working behind the scenes to try and deal with that very serious problem. Westport House is part of Westport and part of the infrastructure of Westport, as is the Browne family, and we have to make sure that the estate does not fall into private hands … I am working behind the scenes to make sure that won’t happen.”
This was the first public acknowledgement by any official that action is being taken on the issue, and Minister Ring’s words were met with a round of applause.
Minister Ring facilitated discussions last week with senior executives from Mayo County Council and NAMA on the future of Westport House, as calls were made to have it removed from the Project Arrow property portfolio currently for sale by NAMA.
A special meeting of Mayo County Council’s Strategic Policy Committee for Enterprise and Investment convened last Wednesday specifically to discuss developments in relation to Westport House.
That group agreed to seek a consensus from the 30 councillors to request that the local authority formally ask that Section 4.1.1 of the NAMA Act (in relation to the disposal of real estate assets by the agency) be invoked. This allows a government entity or state or semi-state body to ask NAMA that a property be purchased ‘for legitimate reasons in the public interest’ outside the agency’s regular open marketing sale rules.
In light of ongoing developments and the update from the Chief Executive yesterday, councillors have decided to make no immediate call to action, which might interfere with processes ongoing in the background, or which might jeopardise ongoing discussions.

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