THE Castletroy Park Hotel is to undergo a major new development as it embarks on €6m expansion plan over the next 18 months.
Supermacs and Só Hotels owner Pat McDonagh, made the announcement this Monday in a plan that will see the size of the hotel increase by almost 50 per cent above its existing 107 bedrooms and executive suites.
The expansion will also see a new state of the art fitness and leisure facility and a corporate business hub developed. Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, TD was in Limerick this Monday to announce the plans with Mr McDonagh.
The development will see €6million invested in the Limerick economy over the next 18 months and 110 jobs will be supported during the construction phase of the project. An additional 40 permanent jobs will be created in the Hotel itself. The project will generate an estimated €30million in the Limerick economy over the next 10 years.
Speaking of the city as a location for business Mr McDonagh said that few places in the country come near Limerick in terms of what it offers the corporate, leisure and sports tourism sectors.
“A recent study indicated that Limerick has overtaken Dublin in terms of job vacancy rate. The region is now a business hot spot and the physical infrastructure around the city is changing dramatically. There is a significant motorway network feeding the city plus an international airport in Shannon on our doorstep,” Mr McDonagh said.
The Castletroy Park Hotel which was originally founded by Chuck Feeney the noted American philanthropist, was envisioned from the very outset as a top-rated facility complementing the status of the University of Limerick status and he is committed to continuing to deliver on that vision”, he added.
Mr McDonagh, who is a graduate of Mary Immaculate College, described Limerick as the Irish ‘capital of education’. He said this investment is a vote of confidence in Limerick and he said he is hugely impressed with the success of the city in attracting national and international business investment as well as the progressive steps being taken to address lifestyle, amenity and urban development.
The Galway native praised the University of Limerick which he said has grown from 100 students 40 years ago to being currently one of the biggest and most enterprising Irish universities. He said the recent appointment of Professor Des Fitzgerald as UL President is testimony to the ability of the institution to attract the best and brightest to Limerick.
Mr McDonagh said that developments at Mary Immaculate College and Limerick Institute of Technology have paralleled the pace of development at UL and he said the student population of the city is now on a par with the total population of most Irish county towns. Mr. McDonagh went on to say that Limerick is now reaping the rewards of its reform of administration into one single city and county municipal authority. “I believe that the reformed council, under its CEO Conn Murray, will lead Limerick to a prime place among international city’s,” he said.
Minister Noonan said that this development was a huge vote of confidence in the Ireland’s third city and one that will compliment but the hotel and the surrounding infrastructure that will benefit from it.
An application seeking planning permission for the development will be lodged with Limerick City and County Council this week.
