Council buys former Banagher hotel site

Offaly County Council has purchased the former Royal Shannon Hotel building in Banagher, adjacent to the Shannon and Banagher Marina.

Councillors were notified at their monthly meeting last week that the council had spent €181,530.

Formally a thriving hotel, The Royal Shannon Hotel has been lying idle for a number of years under the ownership of a vulture fund.

It was then sold in 2021 and bought by a local company, from which the local authority completed the purchase late last year.

The building requires extensive works, having experienced fire damage some years ago.

The property is included in the Banagher Regeneration Project which was allocated €395,250 under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and which will be supplemented by a further €150,000 funding from Offaly County Council.

The project includes the development of an Architectural and Tourism Masterplan for Banagher Marina and the area around it.

It also plans to carry out an appraisal, design and propose remedial works for the hotel site to prepare for future capital investment.