This article is from page 9 of the 2011-02-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THE opening of the West County Inn Hotel over 40 years ago was the foundation stone of the Lynch Hotel Group that in recent years that became one of the flagship hotel chains around the country under the direction of Michael B Lynch.
The West County Inn was developed by Michael Lynch Snr and when officially opened in April 1968 by the then Minister for Labour and future President of Ireland, Dr Patrick Hillery, it was labelled “a very substantial addition to Clare tourism”.
And, while both the Clare Inn Hotel and Breaffy House Hotel went into receivership last Thursday, the West County still remains one of the industry leaders in the county and beyond, having been developed as one of the flagship hotel in the midwest region in terms of numbers of visitors over its 43-year history.
In 2009, the group, which employed over 500 in seven hotels in the west of Ireland, gained court protection from its creditors as it endeavoured to re-organise its finances. Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton as interim examiner of Ireland’s largest family-run hotel group.
The judge made the appointment after being told that an independent accountant’s report showed that the group has a reasonable prospect of survival as a going concern. The examinership gave the company 100 days to reorganise its finances. The court heard that the group owed € 22.85m and was unable to pay its debts.
After being established in 1968 the group expanded further in Clare by and into Mayo, Limerick and Galway. In 2008, the group opened a luxurious family-friendly spa at the Breaffy House Hotel in Castlebar, while other hotels in the group included the George Boutique Hotel in Limerick City and Haydens Gateway Hotel in Ballinasloe.
The hotel group pulled out of Dublin a couple of years ago, selling the 270-bedroom Green Isle hotel at a € 10m loss for € 40m. It also sold the South Court Hotel in Limerick for an estimated € 15m and then leased the 127-bedroom building back.
Mr Lynch, remains a director but the company is now run by his son, Michael B Lynch, a former finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
“We are professional hoteliers with a fundamentally sound business and at this time are planning to restructure our financial position,” Michael B Lynch said in 2009.
“We are confident that our 40 years of experience in the hotel business, our customer and staff loyalty and recognised innovation practices will see the company through this process,” he added.