At Your Service review: Dismay as Donegal passion project still ongoing after two years
Francis Brennan with Pat Boyle on At Your Service
Monday night’s episode of At Your Service saw John and Francis Brennan share their expertise and advice with two cousins with big plans to renovate a neglected hotel in the heart of Dungloe, Co Donegal.
Builder and developer Pat Boyle and his Chicago-based businessman cousin Kevin Boyle – referred to throughout by the Brennans as ‘American Cousin Kevin’ - are the sons of Donegal brothers and have harboured dreams of revitalising Dungloe’s hospitality trade. They set their sights on the iconic Sweeney’s Hotel on its main street.
We meet the cousins (one in person, one over Zoom from the US) in 2020 as they prepare to take on the daunting task. Francis makes the long journey from Kenmare to Dungloe to see what lies before them. The hotel first opened in 1850 and as Francis gets the grand tour of the exposed walls and building site-to-be, he quips: “It has the look of 1850 about it alright.” He is unimpressed by the rough and ready site (“It needs a bit of a dust”) but he can see the potential.
Pat and American Cousin Kevin have a high €2m budget to realise their dream project but even higher hopes of opening their doors to guests by St Patrick’s Day 2021 – just six months from the start of their renovation work.
Back in the comfort of Kenmare, John spies some “operational issues” in the planned layout of the hotel, namely the distance between the kitchen and the dining areas as well as a logistical issue when it comes to deliveries.
In a meeting with Pat and Martina Rafferty, who is to be Sweeney’s hotel manager, overseen via screen by American Cousin Kevin, John and Francis share their concerns and offer some styling tips for the hotel’s interior and urge them to focus more on the courtyard within the hotel, which is perfect for outdoor dining.
Pat, while appreciative of their help, says their ideas are “a little disconcerting” and Martina agrees, saying their design tips are “a bit minimalistic”. Instead, they reach out to design students and a competition to design the hotel’s interior look becomes part of a college thesis project.
The Brennans are horrified.
“He didn’t even listen to us when we gave him ideas. And students?,” Francis exclaims. John agrees. “They have no operational or commercial exp in the real world,” he says. “It’s for the birds.”
Despite their reservations, when the Brennans set eyes on the plans for the hotel interiors sourced through the college, they’re forced to eat their words at the stylish looks on the table before them.
“I was very skeptical from day one, I thought it was for the birds,” John repeats before uttering those three elusive words: “I was wrong.”
Despite the steep plans for the hotel, a chaotic mixture of Covid-19, Brexit and the war in Ukraine saw delay after delay and multiple setbacks befall the project and up to this month, July 2022, Sweeney’s Hotel is still mostly a building site, to both the cousins and the Brennans’ dismay.
We see a clip of Connie O’Donnell, project manager, tearing down a building that, ironically, was built decades ago for the hotel by his own uncle, as he optimistically states: “We’re not expecting anything to hold us back”. Just two weeks later and the site goes from knocked down to locked down for six months.
By summer 2021, Pat and American Cousin Kevin’s budget is stretched €800k over their original estimate. “It’s significant and it’s been difficult, to be frank,” Pat shares.
Fast-forward to June 2022 and Francis visits for the final time and is saddened to see the hotel has yet to be completed. “It’s two years since we started and this hotel is far from opening,” he says. “I have to wear this, still?” he asks when handed a hard hat. “I’m disappointed. It really is a building site.”
Pat too is dismayed but remains optimistic for that St Patrick’s Day opening.
“I’m just delighted there’s a Paddy’s Day every year, Francis,” he jokes. He says he still hopes to deliver a hotel that Dungloe can be proud of.
“We feel like we’ve let the town down, we didn’t get the hotel open. But we’re going to get it open and when it’s open, I hope they feel it was worth waiting for.”
