Westport House sale enjoying widespread approval

SHAKING ON HISTORY Pictured in the library of Westport House last Friday morning are, from left: Mr Owen Hughes, Ms Sheelyn Browne and Ms Karen Browne, former owners of Westport House and daughters of the late Lord Altamont; Mr Cathal Hughes, Chairman of The Hughes Group and Mr Harry Hughes.  Pic: Michael McLaughlin



Neill O’Neill

FIFTEEN months after hundreds of people gathered in Westport Town Hall to make their opposition against the sale of approximately 400 acres of the Westport House estate to a US vulture fund by NAMA known, the community’s prayers were answered last Friday with the announcement that Westport House and estate has been acquired by the Hughes Group.
Synonymous with business life in Westport for over a century, Cathal, Owen and Harry Hughes are the latest generation of their family to helm the company that bears their name, and their decision to add Westport House to their portfolio of businesses [alongside Portwest and Hotel Westport primarily] was met with widespread approval in their native town.
Much fear and speculation had been in existence since the Browne family reluctantly decided to sell their ancestral home last February. After the loans attaching to a vast section of the Westport House Estate had been removed from NAMA following public pressure and the intervention of Minister of State Michael Ring, it was hoped locally that the estate could continue as it has done in the Browne family for almost 400 years, but that was not to be. With fears that a wealthy buyer would turn the much-loved tourism amenity into a private playground, and continuing unfounded speculation linking various potential buyers to a sale, it was known by only a handful of people that behind the scenes Mayo County Council had negotiated to acquire and transfer the NAMA loans to themselves, thus setting the scene for interested parties to commence meaningful talks on what was always likely to be a very complex deal.
That process has been underway for some time, but the Hughes Group were relatively late coming to the table, entering negotiations not long before Christmas. They signed the deal to acquire Westport House for an undisclosed sum in the middle of last week.
The property was marketed internationally with a guide price of €10 million and there were other interested parties, but in the end it was the local Hughes family who have now  been confirmed as the new owners of Westport House. While this has been very well received in Westport and across Mayo, there is also much consideration being given to the Browne family, who spoke last week of their emotions at the end of a truly historic era in the story of Westport House and the town itself.

MORE
For full coverage and opinion see this week's Mayo News