Fresh call made to address ‘eyesore’ former hotel in Tipperary
There has been a fresh call made to address an “eyesore” building in Thurles.
At the March meeting of the Thurles Municipal District, Fianna Fáil councillor Kay Cahill Skehan asked the district engineers if there was any update on plans for the former Munster Hotel building on Cathedral Street in Thurles.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Cahill Skehan said she couldn’t understate the importance of getting something done with the former hotel.
"I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to the people of Thurles that they want to get this remedied,” she said.
"The Munster Hotel is such an eyesore, and as I’ve said before, Cathedral Street is such a lovely street with the Cathedral, we now have the college, the two convents and it is such an eyesore, and the car park is creating headaches as well.
"I know that the council are working on it, but I just want to emphasise that for the whole town, it is really important. They want it to be looking better, they want it to be gone, I suppose, and to do something else with it,” Cllr Cahill Skehan said.
Back in 2022, planning permission was granted to develop the former hotel, with plans for a retail development on the site.
The plans included converting the ground floor into a retail unit, with the upper floors potentially used for student accommodation for nearby Mary Immaculate College.
However, since then, no work has been carried out on the vacant hotel. The car park to the rear of the hotel has been leased to Tipperary County Council by property owner Martin Healy, to help with a shortage of parking in Thurles town.
Former county councillor Seamus Hanafin previously called on the local authority to purchase the derelict property and bring it back into use once and for all.
"It’s in a very decrepit state, and it’s on our main artery into our town. It’s adjacent to our cathedral, adjacent to our university. It’s been like that for some considerable length of time,” the former councillor said in 2024.
"The council can take a strategic view of something that is in the town centre. We’re trying to talk all the time about dereliction in our town, and bringing buildings back into use. I think this might be beyond a private investor,” he added.