West Tipperary needs a fully functioning hotel insists Dundrum Heritage Group

The group at the centre of the dramatic development in the Dundrum IPAS centre controversy was only formed recently.

It is an informal group that was only established in January of this year but it has made a massive impact.

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Last week the Dundrum Heritage Group welcomed the statement made by Tipperary County Council that the planning exemption it gave for Dundrum House Hotel to be used as an IPAS centre shold not have been given.

Dundrum Heritage Group had sought a Judicial Review of a Section 5 Declaration approved by Tipperary County Council.

GOFUNDME
The activity of the group was led to the confirmation on Tuesday of last week that Tipperary County Council will not contest the Judicial Review brought by Dundrum Heritage Group.
Since it was established in January a GoFundMe page set up by the group has raised over €13,000 to help their campaign.

“Our bottom line is that we want to preserve the 300 year old national heritage building and we want it back as a fully functional hotel complex” said a spokesperson for the group this week.

JUDICIAL REVIEW
He welcomed the fact that Tipperary County Council stated that they would pay the costs incurred by Dundrum Heritage Group in the Judicial Review process and thanked pepole for their generous support.

The spokesperson pointed out that the Dundrum House Hotel was a source of pride to everybody in west Tipperary when it was functioning as a hotel.
“Kids got their first job there, people were married there, it had a massive impact on the local community,” he said and said it was the objective of the group to return the property to that purpose.

The spokesperson said that the group wanted to see Dundrum House Hotel being used as a fully functioning hotel an

He said the group was neither pro or anti
IPAS. That was not the issue. The sole purpose of the group was to see a return of normal hotel life in the heart of the community.

INFORMAL GROUP
“We are an informal group of citizens from Dundrum focused on preserving and restoring Dundrum Manor House, with the goal of returning the site to a fully functioning hotel that will benefit our local community and economy.
“We have garnered broad community support.
“We’ve received 86 donations to our GoFundMe page, primarily from Dundrum locals and the business community,” he said.

He said the group recognises that the government have an obligation to house IPAS, but the group makes the argument that Dundrum House is the wrong location for many reasons.
The real issues were rooted in heritage loss, planning law violations, infrastructure concerns, and deep contractual irregularities.

TRANSPARENCY
The community, he said, was not being unreasonable. It was calling for accountability, transparency, and preservation of a unique national asset.
He said the group had concerns that the hotel would be lost forever to the community as there was a belief that Dundrum and the hotel site was being lined up to be a major national IPAS site.
“There was a fear because of the size of the site that Dundrum could end up in a City West situation,” he said.

DUE DILLIGENCE
The group said that Tipperary County Council’s initial site assessment failed to flag serious planning breaches suggesting either gross oversight or procedural inadequacy.
This flawed due diligence undermined the legal standing of the entire siting of an IPAS centre in Dundrum House.

The group was also of the belief that due diligence was not applied by the Department of Migration in relation to the matter when dealing with the owners of the building.
The group has expressed concern at the destruction of community amenities.
The group states that Dundrum House Hotel was a central hub for social, cultural, and economic life in Dundrum and the surrounding area.

DEPRIVED
It offered leisure facilities including swimming pool, gym, and spa,dining venues and public bars in the Manor House, function rooms that hosted weddings, corporate events, and community gatherings.
“Some or all of these amenities have been eliminated.
“The local community has been deprived of access to a site that was designed to serve it,” stated the group.

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MISUSE
“To allow this site to decay under State-sanctioned misuse is not only short-sighted but also a permanent forfeiture of architectural, and economic value to the region.
“Dundrum House’s purpose must be restored, not opportunistically replaced,” stated the group.