LIVE: Tipperary TD reacts to closure of infamous Tipperary hotel

Tipperary South TD Mattie McGrath has described the sudden closure of Dundrum House Hotel, golf, leisure, and restaurant facilities as a devastating blow to staff, local suppliers, and the wider community, and has called on government ministers to urgently intervene.

Deputy McGrath said: “The sudden announcement of this closure has left over 40 workers locked out of their jobs without warning. Many of these staff have given decades of service and now, through no fault of their own, find themselves facing unemployment and uncertainty. The closure also directly impacts hundreds of golf club members, leisure centre users, restaurant operators and local suppliers who relied on this complex as a vital hub for employment, recreation, and tourism.”

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Deputy McGrath insisted that the government must now play an active role: “The Minister for Enterprise and the Minister for Tourism must engage directly with the liquidator to ensure that every avenue is explored to secure the future of this facility. The liquidator must also fulfil their duty of care by ensuring workers’ redundancy rights are fully protected and by maintaining the golf course and amenities, so they do not fall into disrepair.”

He also renewed his criticism of the government’s policy of diverting rural hotels into the International Protection Accommodation Services system: “It is a bitter irony that while local workers are being left jobless, the only part of Dundrum House left operating is the IPAS Centre. This reflects a damaging government policy where rural hotels and leisure facilities are being lost to their communities and repurposed without consideration of the long-term impact on local employment, tourism, and social life. This short-sighted policy must be reviewed urgently.”

Deputy McGrath also raised serious concerns about government spending on IPAS contracts and called on the Minister for Justice to act on the basis of previous findings: “At a time when Dundrum House is being shut down, we must ask a very basic question, where is the money from IPAS going? Significant sums of taxpayer funding are being poured into these contracts, yet local jobs are being lost, facilities are being stripped from rural communities, and nothing is being reinvested back into the areas most affected. The government must come clean on how much is being spent, who is benefiting, and why local workers and families are paying the price.”

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“It has already been established that the Section 5 planning exemption for the use of Dundrum House as an IPAS Centre should never have been granted. I am calling on the Minister for Justice to intervene immediately, act on those findings, and bring an end to this flawed arrangement which has deprived the community of a key facility.

“This is a terrible day for Dundrum, for the staff who have lost their jobs, and for the community who have lost an invaluable amenity. I will continue to press the government and the liquidator to take responsibility and ensure that Dundrum House is not abandoned to decline, but given a future that serves the community, not undermines it,” concluded McGrath.