Landmark Tipperary hotel set for redevelopment as company signals intention to demolish it

Plans have been revealed to demolish and transform one of the most iconic hotels along the River Shannon.

The Dromineer Bay Hotel (formerly known as the Sail Inn) has lain derelict in Dromineer on the shores of Lough Derg for a long number of years.

However, Dromineer Bay Developments Ltd, has signalled its intention to lodge plans with Tipperary County Council for a major overhaul of the site.

The company, which is involved with the adjacent Waterside Cottages holiday home development, is led by former Guinness Peat Aviation executive Patrick Blaney, who heads up the Smurfit Graduate Business School in UCD.

Mr Blaney, who is in his 70s, and his team made a presentation on their proposal to locals and business people in the village two weeks ago.

Some of those present at the meeting told the Tipperary Star that while they welcomed plans to revamp what was an eyesore, they had reservations about the overall development.

The plans consist of the redevelopment of the former hotel site and modification and development within the adjacent Waterside Cottages holiday home complex to provide for mixed use commercial and tourism enterprises, and provision of a new associated short-stay tourism accommodation.

The development includes the demolition of the existing hotel and adjacent reception building and shed and construction of a two-storey mix use building comprising event spaces with ancillary lobby / reception, office, bar, kitchen and associated stores and WC facilities; one tourism related retail / commercial space; one restaurant with associated kitchen, stores, staff changing and WC; one retail unit; one café; an eternal terrace.

It will also provide new accommodation intended for tourism use associated with the proposed events spaces and the existing holiday home complex, including construction of six one-bed two-storey terrace units; ne two-storey block consisting of six one-bed two-storey terrace units and 14 one-bed apartments comprising one two-storey block consisting of six one-bed apartment units and one two-storey block consisting of eight one-bed apartment units.

There is a proposal to modify the existing Waterside Cottages holiday houses and complex to enhance accommodation provision in the form of provision of a single-storey extension to the rear elevation of existing holiday houses numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7, and provision of a two-storey extension to the side elevation of of houses 3, 4, 6 and 10.

The company is also seeking modifications to internal access road, parking and amenity area arrangements along with the construction of a new vehicular access from the public road, and the reconfiguration of existing parking area associated with the former hotel.

It is also proposed to enhance the existing surface attenuation system within the northern car park and provision of a petrol interceptor, along with landscaping, signage and all associated works.

The company is to submit a Natura Impact Statement with the planning application.

With Lough Derg Yacht Club on its doorstep, the hotel had long been a major stopping off point for cruisers on Lough Derg and had been popular with anglers before it fell into decline.

Its contribution to sailing tourism largely stemmed from its larger-than-life former owner the Hon Juliana Roberts, who bought it in 1969 and ran it until 1986 when it was sold. She had set about marketing it overseas, first in Britain, then France, as a centre for excellent food, and a base for outdoor pursuits.

She was not a person to be trifled with. Her tussles with the gardaí over “after-hours” drinking in her hotel were legendary.

Married four times, she died tragically in a car accident in August 2006; two of her children still live close to Dromineer.

The hotel was also owned at one stage by Denis and Lily Collison, parents of tech billionaires Patrick and John Collison, who sold it in 2001.

Later bought by a company with New York and Nenagh connections, plans for its development never came to fruition and it was sold again.