Thoor Ballylee closed for the ‘foreseeable future’

A South Galway councillor has called for the reopening of Thoor Ballylee in an effort to attract more tourists to the area. Councillor Gerry Finnerty recently requested that TD Michael Kitt raise the issue in the Dáil as to why the former home of WB Yeats is now closed for the second year in a row. In a letter to Deputy Kitt, Fáilte Ireland stated that it is not in a position to reopen the building for the foreseeable future.
“As you are probably aware, Thoor is a protected structure, listed on the Record of Monuments and Properties. In late 2009, it suffered serious damage from unusually high levels of flooding. The damage to the building and surrounding area was extensive, as the water reached about 12 feet high. In March this year moisture levels were still between 25% and 70%, which is quite unsuitable,” stated Mary Penny, parliamentary affairs, Fáilte Ireland.
Ms Penny confirmed Fáilte Ireland had been in discussions with its insurers about the consequent claim. “This has taken much longer than normal due to the volume of claims from that period and the size and complexity of our specific claim. At the same time, we have been exploring how best to proceed, as a building of this type and age is Grade One listed and requires specialist treatment. Our architectural advisers have told us that any works or proposals will have to be notified to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for approval. Separately, a Section 5 application will also be required before any work can commence. We are actively working on the various issues affecting the reopening of Thoor Ballylee but this is going to take quite some time. Therefore, we will not be in a position to reopen this building for the foreseeable future,” Ms Penny concluded in her response.
Councillor Finnerty is calling on Fáilte Ireland to repair the damage to the well-known attraction as soon as possible and to open it once again to the public.
“Fáilte Ireland is in charge of Thoor Ballylee and regardless of what it takes, I want to see the castle open to visitors. We want to see it go back to how it was about 15 years ago, when there was a tea room there and bus loads of tourists stopping to visit it,” he told The Clare Champion.
“I would like to see it open throughout the summer and staffed by personel from Fáilte Ireland, along with some college students on placement. There are lots of colleges catering for tourism courses and lots of students coming out of them looking for placements for the summer months. So it would seem like the ideal solution for getting tourists in and for giving young people work. South Galway badly needs a greater influx of people coming in and spending money in the area. We don’t have the same footfall of people this summer as we have had or would expect to have,” Councillor Finnerty commented.