Westport House sold to local family

GOOD NEWS FOR WESTPORT Pictured at Westport House today after the announcement of the sale of Westport House, from left: Mr Owen Hughes, Ms Sheelyn Browne and Ms Karen Browne (owners and daughters of the late Lord Altamount), Mr Cathal Hughes (Chairman of The Hughes Group) and Mr Harry Hughes. Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Hughes family take over iconic Westport landmark

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Neill O’Neill

WESTPORT House has been sold to the Hughes family of Portwest, Hotel Westport and The Hughes Group, while Mayo County Council have acquired 40 acres of the estate.
The news broke that a major announcement on the future of Westport House and the estate was imminent yesterday evening (Thursday) and it was confirmed at a press conference in the stately home shortly afer 11am this morning.
The sale comes one year after the house and estate were placed on the market in February 2016 for €10 million. It has been confirmed that a major investment of approximately €50 million over five years will be made at Westport House, which will create up to 200 jobs in that time and significantly enhance one of the west’s main tourism amenities.
The purchase price was not revealed but it is believed to have been close to the €10 million guide price. In a somewhat complex transaction, Mayo County Council purchased the loans from NAMA, which they held over approximately 400 acres of the estate for around €5.2 million, before retaining 40 acres for future development and selling the remainder on in a deal with the Hughes family. Separately, the Hughes family purchased Westport House, its contents and around 50 acres of land immediately surrounding the house (which were not part of the assets controlled by the NAMA loans). The deals of this transaction were not disclosed and it was stated that non-disclosure agreements have been signed by all involved parties. A request to resepect the privacy around this was made. It was stated that while it will take many months to develop a full plan for the estate, a 1,000 seat conference centre and new visitor centre will be constructed on the estate, along with many new developments.
The news has been widely welcomed by the local community, who had feared the iconic estate might pass into private ownership and be closed to the public. Locals had previously and successfully campaigned alongside Minister of State Michael Ring to get the estate removed from a portfolio of loans in NAMA which was later sold to a vulture fund as party of ‘Project Arrow’.
The historic stately home and estate has been in the Browne family since the late 1700s, and The Mayo News understands that the Browne family will be accommodated, with members of the family who live on the estate continuing to do so. Their potential future involvement in the running of the estate is not yet known.
When the family placed the property on the market last year, they stated selling was the ‘only prudent course of action’ given the level of debt attaching to the estate.
All parties have kept remarkably tight lipped throughout the negotiation process, and many will be surprised by this development, given the level of speculation and false dawns on reported sales and potential purchasers in recent months. Not many will have anticipated this outcome.

Major attraction
News of the involvement of NAMA at Westport House was revealed by The Mayo News in October 2015, and came at a time when a specially commissioned report on behalf of Mayo County Council by CHL Consulting Ltd, revealed that the house and estate was making a €50 million contribution annually to the economy.
In the 12 months to the end of September 2014, Westport House made a direct economic contribution of almost €1.68 million to the exchequer and the local and regional economy. It also found that in terms of economic value generated, some €50.7 million is spent in Mayo and the wider region by consumers visiting Westport House each year.
On site, Westport House directly employs 47 people (full-time equivalents), and based on FΡilte Ireland figures and the survey results, supports a further 1,724 jobs elsewhere in the region. In the year to the end of September 2014, 161,906 people visited Westport House, while the estate paid €292,477 in direct taxation; €733,515 in wages and a further €653,000 on goods and services required, many of which were sourced locally in Westport and Mayo. Westport House has recorded considerable growth in recent years, showing an 82 percent increase in paying visitors between 2009 and 2014 - in the midst of a deep recession in Ireland. Outside of financial and tourism contributions, it is impossible to quantify the value of Westport House in a social, cultural and historical context to the town of Westport and the county of Mayo, which is why today’s announcement will be so welcomed by people in Westport and Mayo.