Green light for 40-bed hotel in Dungarvan

The planned development comes amid a year-round increase in visitors to west Waterford

Local developer Michael Ryan intends to construct a seven-storey hotel in Dungarvan. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Waterford Council has given the go-ahead for a 40-bed hotel on a two-section site close to Dungarvan town centre.

Local developer Michael Ryan intends to construct the seven-storey hotel on Davitt’s Quay, adjacent to the council’s civic offices.

Mr Ryan, who owns the Al Eile stud farm at Kilgobnet near Dungarvan, previously failed to gain planning permission for a 10-storey, 66-bed hotel on the former Glanbia office complex, known as Bridge House, close to Davitt’s Quay.

However, he successfully converted the adjacent Old Bank building to a restaurant and has also adapted an old railway cottage as a greenway coffee shop.

The new development will see a two-storey building, which had housed a greengrocer’s, internet cafe, and office, demolished and replaced by the hotel, a ground-floor deli/cafe, and a sixth-floor restaurant and bar with terrace seating and balconies.

The car park will be developed on a 22-acre site at Richard A Walsh St, immediately across the road.

A new boundary wall and railings along Richard A Walsh St will coincide with a new, separate pedestrian access from Davitt’s Quay.

The development comes amid a year-round increase in visitors drawn to west Waterford attractions such as the Waterford greenway but with only 200 bed spaces between its two current hotels.

Rejuvenated tourism

The region also benefits from a rejuvenated tourism sector 20km away in Youghal, which currently has only one hotel accepting guests.

Last August, Youghal’s annual Ironman weekend attracted tens of thousands of visitors, many of whom had to source accommodation outside the town.

Mr Ryan said there is a real need for additional hotel accommodation in Dungarvan and says diners “frequently cancel bookings at the Old Bank because they cannot get overnight accommodation in the town as they’d intended”.

Local Fine Gael councillor Damien Geoghegan said the public response has been “overwhelmingly positive” and said Mr Ryan “has a strong record of high-quality construction”.

He added that “the council and the developer are to be commended, and I hope now it’s not appealed to An Bord Pleanála”.