New hotel plan for centre of Tullamore

The businessman behind the Bridge House in Tullamore has plans to build an 86 room sister hotel and casino on a nearby plot.

According to a planning notice issued this week, well known hotelier Patrick Leneghan is set to apply for planning permission to construct what would be one of the largest hotels in the Midlands at Distillery Lane right in the centre of Tullamore.

In addition to the 86 bedrooms, the planning notice includes details for the development of a conference centre, three retail units, restaurant and bars, as well as the construction of a link bridge to the Bridge house and the “conservation and redevelopment” of two nearby protected structures, the Malt Kiln and the Malt house.

If the ambitious plan gets off the ground it would be one of the biggest developments in the Tullamore area in the last ten years. It would be a major boost to the local economy and create a huge number of construction jobs locally as well spin-off posts in the Offaly county town.

Apart from the adjacent 70 bedroom Bridge House Hotel, Mr Leneghan, who is based in county Louth, has extensive interests in the hospitality sector in Ireland. These include The Palace in Navan and the Kildare Hotel in Dublin city.

The Offaly Independentcontacted the Leneghan family for a comment on Thursday about the proposed new hotel and casino development but no one was available to comment on the multimillion euro plans.

The project proposal, yet to be submitted to Offaly County Council, is expected in next few days. Developers have two weeks to submit the plans on foot of the planning notice.