Hotel to honour unpaid graduations

A HOTEL has stepped in yesterday to save the graduation celebrations of thousands of Cork students after an ‘events organiser’ failed to pay booking deposits.

Almost 3,000 students from 19 schools across the city and county had each paid €75 to Pat Brown for tickets to graduation balls he was supposed to arrange for them in the city’s Silversprings Moran Hotel.

They were facing disaster yesterday when it emerged that the former motor mechanic had used their money to pay hotel debts racked up from last year’s events.

Gardaí in Mayfield have taken statements and are investigating the matter.

But Silversprings Moran hotel bosses stepped in and said they would honour — at cost price — each of 19 dates Mr Brown had booked at their venue.

A total of 2,486 students are affected.

Mr Brown did not return phone calls yesterday.

Hotel co-owner Pat Power said the gesture would cost the hotel a substantial amount of money.

“But I’m a parent myself. I have four children and they’ve all gone through graduation. It’s a huge day in their lives.

“We had to honour the dates,” he said.

The story broke yesterday, a week after Mr Brown failed to pay a €24,860 booking deposit to secure the 19 dates at the hotel.

The alarm was raised on Thursday when school organising committees began to contact the hotel to ensure the venue had been booked.

Hotel management also became alarmed and they contacted Mr Brown to secure the deposit.

Mr Power and the hotel’s principal Tom Moran travelled from Dublin to meet him face-to-face on Thursday night.

Mr Power said he admitted he had used the €186,450 collected from students in recent months for this year’s debs and grads, to pay off debts from last year’s events.

It is understood that bands, DJs, photographers and bus companies were owed money.

Mr Power said Mr Brown claimed he had just €9 left in his bank account and owed €14,000 to the Credit Union.

Mr Power said he has managed to make contact with representatives of Hamilton High School, St Brogan’s, Blarney and St Vincents, to discuss the situation.

But he urged the other schools to contact hotel management, with the “graduation 2007” certs provided by Mr Brown, to secure the cost price deal.

Meanwhile, the Rochestown Park Hotel, which also had dealings with Mr Brown, confirmed yesterday that it has initiated legal proceedings against him. It declined to comment further.