Michael B Lynch returns to business with Kilkee Bay Hotel

Hotelier Michael B Lynch admitted yesterday it has been a difficult few years after his hotel business crashed in 2011.

Mr Lynch was speaking outside Ennis Courthouse after he was confirmed as the new licensee through MG Hotel Investments of the Kilkee Bay Hotel as he continues his comeback in the hotel business.

In 2011, the Lynch Hotel Group — which recorded a peak turnover of €45m and employed 500 people — collapsed when a receiver was appointed to two of the hotels. None of the hotels now operate under the Lynch banner and Mr Lynch confirmed yesterday he has taken a lease on the Kilkee Bay hotel employing 40 people.

Asked about the last number of years following the collapse of the family-owned business, he said: “They have been difficult — of course they have been — but I am just getting back into business now.”

In his first press comments in the last five years, Mr Lynch said of the Kilkee Bay Hotel: “we are holding our own. We have 40 people employed— it is a good tourism boost for the area”.

Mr Lynch confirmed earlier at Ennis District Court, that he has been in the hotel trade for 25 years.

His taking a lease on the hotel makes for one of the more unlikely business match ups of the year.

A 76-year old multi-millionaire bachelor farmer, JJ McCabe purchased the Kilkee hotel in a two-hotel deal for a combined €625,000 two years ago.