The founder of fast-food chain Supermac’s has bought the Charleville Park Hotel in North Cork with a view to a €1m upgrade.

Irish hotels are back in business - they’ve sold like hot-cakes during 2014, with over 50 finding new owners, with €450m changing hands in the process.

The market for hotel purchases has never been busier than in the first nine months of the year, as sales top even pre-recession levels, according to a new report.

The hotel market saw a huge increase in activity in the first half of this year, with almost three times as much spent on property sales.

A STRONG Irish buyer, Pat McDonagh of the Supermac’s restaurant chain, has emerged as the buyer of Cork’s purpose-built Charleville Park Hotel after very competitive bidding via agent Denis O’Donoghue of Savills.

HOTEL sales momentum is continuing to gather pace as the year’s first quarter ends, with sales agreed or closed totalling around €10m at Cork’s Oriel House Hotel, in Ballincollig, in Charleville, and in Wexford’s Bunclody, where the Millrace (previously a Carlton hotel), has just been sold by CBRE.

A strong local trade, in the heartland of Munster’s Golden Vale, underpins the good trading figures at the Charleville Park Hotel — just released to market.

A men’s sauna club owner has been awarded €25,000 after he was unfairly dismissed from his job at a Co Cork hotel.

The manager of a Co Cork hotel yesterday denied sacking his leisure centre manager in a “knee-jerk homophobic reaction” on discovering his employee was running a sauna club in Shannon.

FOLLOWING the completion of voting, officials for the National coursing meeting in Clonmel at the end of the months have been named.

A TOWN linked to one of our favourite cheeses was all smiles yesterday as its once-famous festival was revived after a 21-year absence.

CLAIMS have been made that drivers will not use a proposed new motorway service station because it was too close to Cork city.

ENGINEERING experts have told a Bord Pleanála oral hearing up to 70 lives could be saved over the next 30 years if a motorway is developed between Cork and Limerick.

A VILLAGE intends to fight plans to build one of the country’s longest sections of elevated motorway just yards from its quiet main street.

LANDOWNERS are facing significant disruption after the selection of a preferred route for a proposed €1 billion superhighway between Cork and Limerick.

ROUTE options for a €1 billion motorway linking Cork to Limerick will go on display again next week due to public demand.

THE largest-yet new house scheme for Charleville, on the Cork-Limerick border, is being launched today.