BUSINESSMAN John McLoughlin, who runs the Din Ri nightclub in Carlow, has bought the former Garda station in the town for £565,000. There were five bidders at the Hamilton Osborne King auction when bidding opened at £250,000. It was put on the market and eventually knocked down to Mr McLoughin, who plans to convert the building into either a hotel or guesthouse. Sold on behalf of the Church Missionary Society, the three-storey building was first let to the RIC in 1886 and remained in public use until recently, having been used for the past two years as a customs and excise office and a driving test centre. The sale also included converted coach-houses on a site of one-third of an acre.

The State had been paying a rent of £30,000 on the building for the past three years.