Will Portumna's iconic Shannon Oaks Hotel soon rise from the ashes?

THE OWNERS of Portumna's landmark Shannon Oaks Hotel, which was destroyed in a serious fire in 2011, have hinted they plan to restore the premises to its former glory.

The Comers, originally from Glenamaddy in Galway, own over 40 hotels across the world, including eight in Ireland and one of which is the Shannon Oaks. However, local people are reported to have received the news “with a pinch of salt” according to local political activists - as there have been many false dawns in the past with hopes of redeveloping the landmark hotel which played such an important role in Portumna.

Sinn Féin local election hopeful for East Galway, Louis O'Hara, revealed on social media last week that Galway County Council have given the Comer brothers a two month deadline to commence works on the site or face derelict site levies. 

“In response the Comers have recommitted to redeveloping the site. This commitment is welcome, but will be taken with a pinch of salt by many locals, as redevelopment has been promised for many years”, Mr. O'Hara said.

“Reopening the hotel would bring huge benefits to the local area. Sinn Féin will continue to pursue this with the Council to ensure levies are collected if work doesn't commence soon. It's not good enough for the hotel to be left idle and derelict for any longer”, he said.

In March 2018 Luke Comer announced his company planned a €2-million redevelopment of the Shannon Oaks and promised to open the hotel by the end of the summer in 2018. “We  want to turn it into a new state of the art hotel in Portumna where we feel it has loads of potential. We have put the project out to tender and obviously we would prefer to secure a local builder.

“It is in a prime location and we would hope that the new hotel would be up and running by the end of the Summer. I understand that there are two local contractors involved in the process,” Luke Comer said in 2018. The massive blaze that destroyed a large part of the well-known hotel started in a chip pan.