No Greenway, no hotel? - €15 million investment in Murrisk at risk

A multimillion euro investment in Murrisk and the associated jobs may not happen if the Belclare to Murrisk Greenway does not go ahead.

“The Greenway is pretty critical to us doing a hotel,” entrepreneur and developer Paul Michels told The Mayo News. “Without the Greenway, we have to reevaluate the hotel. It was a big part of our planning.”

The proposed hotel will feature a restaurant, a bar overlooking the water, and a leisure centre that will be open to the local community. “The leisure centre will be a community asset,” the developer said, adding that around €6 million has already been invested in apartments and infrastructure on the site, with a further €15 million planned for the hotel.

A decision on planning permission is expected within the next six months.

The Greenway was a ‘big part’ of the planning of the hotel and if it doesn’t come into fruition and the additional tourism numbers with it, the potential viability of the hotel would come into question.

“The Greenway is a connector to tourism. We were part of that stream of tourists. We're kind of in the middle between Louisburgh and Westport and all the activities in between.”

The developer previously rebuffed approaches to use the complex as an IPAS centre and says one potential alternative for the site if the viability of the hotel changes is to turn it into a retirement village.

Active Tourism

Families make up a large number of the current visitors to the Murrisk Apartments. Michels says that most come for adventure tourism and want to do three things: cycle, swim and climb the Reek.

As previously reported in The Mayo News, Mayo County Council Director of Services, Joanne Grehan said that people had to be mindful the extension of the Greenway is likely to attract 700,000 extra visitors to the county over the next ten years and deliver an extra €16 million to the local economy.

The hotel will facilitate over half a kilometre of Greenway through the complex but the developer says that the current Greenway is “a road to nowhere.”

“I am concerned about the people that we bring in telling them that there's a place to ride their bikes, and it's an outdoor activity and then forcing them out on a busy road. So I question my own responsibility to the people that I'm trying to attract to this place and sending them out on a busy road.”

The Belclare to Murrisk Greenway has so far proved controversial for a number of reasons. The primary flashpoint is land, the other divergence is the question of whether the Greenway is an essential transport corridor and economic lifeline or a ‘vanity project’ and a ‘high-spec, high-cost fantasy.’

Opposition

Some local landowners and residents have voiced opposition to the Greenway going through private property. They have also criticised the manner in which Mayo County Council have communicated with them on the projects.

The prospect of compulsory purchase order has seen the Taoiseach call for Transport Infrastructure Ireland to loosen up on its specifications.

Michels is calling on land owners to sit down with the council and says privacy of houses should be respected and “we know that we have to work together to create something that will be good for many future generations.”

He believes councillors should recognise the “significant opportunity that this creates, not just myself, but all the businesses in Westport and Louisburgh and not just for us who are alive today, but for future generations.”

The recent revelation that the estimated cost of building the greenway alongside the current Westport-Louisburgh road would cost an estimated €200 million has dealt a blow to those proposing it as an alternative route for the Greenway.

The ten members of the Belclare-Murrisk Committee have urged Mayo County Council to revisit an earlier 2021 “shovel-ready” roadside plan. “If it continues with its current high-spec, high-cost fantasy, Mayo risks losing state support again,” they wrote in these pages. “The council must face reality, apply for a deviation from the standard, revive the 2021 roadside plan, and deliver this project without further waste or delay.”

Apart from the economic cost, Michels would be against it as it is not “a reasonable thing to do either for the people with children who are on the road. I think it's so much beauty on the original path that should be shared with the people of Ireland.

“I personally think there's a very large group of people who are very supportive and committed and would like to see the Greenway happen. I don't think they speak up enough.

“Everybody I talk to in the business community and the community in general, seems to be very pro greenway.”

Next steps

Last month, councillors were told that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will not fund Greenway construction unless the land is owned by the local authority. Staffing issues have delayed progress, and the design and environmental evaluation phase is now expected to run until mid-2026.

The final decision on the route’s approval will rest with local councillors or potentially An Coimisiún Pleanála, but it is unlikely to be made within the next year.

Last month, councillors were told that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will not fund Greenway construction unless the land is owned by the local authority. Staffing issues have delayed progress, and the design and environmental evaluation phase is now expected to run until mid-2026.

The final decision on the route’s approval will rest with local councillors or potentially An Coimisiún Pleanála, but it is unlikely to be made within the next year.