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Tullamore Court Hotel sold to major hotel group

4th February 2019

THE Tullamore Court Hotel has been sold to iNUA Hospitality Hotel Group for an undisclosed sum, the directors of John Flanagan Developments have announced.

“This is positive news for the hotel, its employees and the town”, a statement from John Flanagan Developments outlined.

“iNUA’s ethos, high standards and reputation were all considered an excellent fit for the Tullamore Court Hotel and the town of Tullamore,” John Flangan Jnr and Dominic Doheny of Flanagan Developments told the Tribune.

It is understood the iNUA Group intend to invest substantial funds in the redevelopment of the hotel which celebrated its 21st anniversary last November.

John Flanagan Snr, who realised a lifelong ambition when his newly developed hotel commenced trading in November 1997, told the Tribune he “looked forward” to the Tullamore Court “continuing to provide a high quality service in the Midlands.”

The iNUA Hospitality Hotel Group has its headquarters in Cork and owns seven hotels: one five star, Muckross Park , Killarney, plus six four star hotels - Hillgrove Monaghan, Radisson Athlone, Radisson Cork, Radisson, Limerick, Radisson Sligo and Hibernian Kilkenny.

Said the Flanagan Developments statement: “We believe the timing is right for us, as it will allow us to refocus on the property development side of our business where we have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline.”

“We have been very fortunate to have a wonderful loyal staff at the Tullamore Court Hotel. The team is a premier team led by Phil O’Brien and Anne McLoughlin who are with us since the hotel opened in 1997.”

“Such is the level of teamwork at the Court Hotel that it was awarded the coveted accolade of Midland Hotel of the year last year.”

The statement continued: “We have been very fortunate also to have wonderful customers, some of whom have been loyal to us since our opening, and to all of them we say a huge thank you.”

“The Court Hotel is here to stay, albeit with new energetic owners, and we wish them and all the staff the very best of luck into the future,” the statement concluded.

The Tullamore Court Hotel opened its doors for the first time on Saturday evening, November 1 1997, when Charlie Landsborough staged a sell-out concert while  the actual official opening of the venue was performed by the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern in early 1998.

Speaking to the Tribune on the occasion of the hotel's 20th anniversary in 2017, John Flanagan Snr the  attention paid by staff and management to the needs of the customer is central to the success of the Tullamore Court Hotel over the past two decades.

"I always believed there was a need for a hotel on the edge of town which had lots of car parking spaces readily available,' the veteran builder and developer recalled.

He added: "I talked a lot about developing a hotel and had a friend in the hotel business whom I chatted to about a suitable site. I had identified a number of sites and when he came to view this site he said it was ideal."

"It was good quality site which lots of space to build a hotel on together with ample car parking facilities."

Continued Mr Flanagan: "I approached the Mahons  [the legal family who owned the site] and we did a deal."

After that Mr Flanagan's firm engaged the services of Paul Burke-Kennedy, son of the former Hibernian Bank Manager, Gerry Burke-Kennedy, a noted hotel expert who was involved in a lot of hotels around the country.

"My sons John and Tony, Donal Fox and Dominic Doheny were also involved and we all had our views to express. Paul got the hotel designed and it was built by John Flanagan and Sons."

The original hotel comprised 72 bedrooms and was officially opened in January 1998 by then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern with leading local politicians Ger Connolly and Brian Cowen among those in attendance at the gala event.

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