One of the best-known hotels in the west of Ireland has moved to deny rumours that it is about to close – and the manager has reported that “we are in good financial health”.
The manager of the four-star McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris, believes that the story did the rounds after another hotel in the region went to the wall.
Fergal Ryan said rumours of the demise of the McWilliam Park Hotel were “totally unfounded”, and he assured all customers that “business is increasing year on year and we are looking to an even brighter future”.
Mr Ryan told the Mayo Advertiser that the McWilliam Park has been operating in Mayo for the last four years serving the people of Galway, Mayo, Roscommon and the west “delightfully”. “We will be here doing the same for many years to come.”
He said: “The rumour emerged at the weekend, and it spread like wildfire. I certainly know now the veracity of the old saying that a lie will travel around the world before the truth gets its shoes on.
“We are in good financial health. We have a large number of bookings in for 2011, including weddings, private parties, dinner-dances, and a variety of other events. Plus we are actively selling 2012 now.
“This rumour has caused us some difficulty in that we have had to contact people who have bookings with us to assure them the story is totally unfounded.
“Thankfully we didn’t have a difficult job in convincing people that we are not about to close because everyone knows the hotel has been very busy since we opened four years ago. We have an extremely active marketing and promotional campaign in place all year round, and, in fact, will be exhibiting at the Holiday World events in Belfast and Dublin over the next month, as well carrying out promotions in London and Brussels.
“There is no prospect whatsoever of us closing our doors.”
In fact, Mr Ryan said the success of the hotel had led to the McWilliam Park Hotel being approached to take over some other hotels. “The only significant dealings I have had with banks over the last two years was when they asked us to look at taking over hotels in difficulty,” added Mr Ryan.
The McWilliam Park Hotel is one of the leading music venues in the country, and over the next four weekends hundreds of country music fans will descend on the venue for performances by top artistes including Patrick Feeney, Jimmy Buckley, Nathan Carter, Robert Mizzell, and Mick Flavin.
The All-Ireland Jiving Championships are pencilled in for next month also. “It will be shake, rattle, and roll – and business – as usual,” said Mr Ryan.
