There was shock in Castlebar yesterday morning with the news that the Welcome Inn Hotel on New Antrim Street in the town had shut its doors and entered a voluntary liquidation process. The popular hotel was run by the McHugh family since it was first opened in the 1960s. There was a sign posted on the doors outside yesterday saying: "Hotel closed until further notice. We apologise to our loyal customers for any inconvenience caused". The hotel was a popular venue for events such as weddings, dinner dances, and meetings. The venue also hosted the only remaining nightclub in the county town.
Speaking about the news of the closure, Independent councillor for the Castlebar Municipal District, Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, said: "This is another blow for the county town, people are talking about the recovery, but you'll have to go a long way to find it around the town. I feel for the McHugh family and for the staff who worked there, who will be now out of a job. There must be at least 20 full time staff working there, that's a lot of pay packets gone out of the town that will have a knock on effect, along with the effect it will have on those people."
Cllr Kilcoyne added: "This is a blow to the tourism industry in the town with a hotel going, it will reduce the options for people coming to stay in Castlebar and we try to promote it as a tourist destination."
With the General Election next week the news will bring increased pressure on An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who has been criticised from many opposition politicians for not delivering to the town, and that while the recovery seems to move at pace in the east of the country, it hasn’t really been felt in the west. The hotel has hosted a number of high profile political events in recent times with both Fianna Fáil Cllr Lisa Chambers and Sinn Féin Cllr Rose Conway Walsh holding their General Election campaign launches in the Welcome Inn in the recent weeks.
The Mayo Advertiser attempted to get in contact with a spokesperson for the hotel, but there was none available to comment at the time of going to print.
