Holiday home owners blamed for hotel plan’s demise

The chief executive of one of the biggest construction companies in New York, and which is behind a number of projects in Ireland, has hit out at the influence of holiday-home owners in South Kerry getting “to dictate” what the true local community needs and deserves.

There is growing anger in South Kerry that the plans for a revamp of the landmark Cable O’Leary’s bar and hotel, the only facility in the village overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay, were shot down after objections made primarily by some of the roughly 300 holiday-home owners in the area. Amid a continuing decline in population, just 50 houses are occupied on a permanent basis in what is the heart of the South Kerry Gaeltacht.