PLANS HAVE been lodged with Clare County Council to convert a derelict €400,000 toilet in Lahinch into a mixed-use development of shops and apartments.
John Galvin of Galvin Construction has lodged plans with the council to convert the derelict premises, overlooking Lahinch bay, into two shops and three apartments.
The plan involves demolishing the property, known locally as the “old toilets” at the Co Clare resort.
At an auction at the Old Ground Hotel in June 2008 – three months before the global financial crisis – Mr Galvin paid the council €400,000 for the property.
Asked at the auction was he happy with the price paid, Mr Galvin said: “I would be happy if I got it for cheaper, but that’s the way it goes.”
North Clare councillor Martin Conway (FG) said yesterday: “I’m glad to see something finally happening at this site two years after it was purchased.
“When this was sold by Clare County Council, the expectation was that it would be developed as a matter of urgency and I regret the fact that it has taken this long for even a planning application to be lodged.”
At the auction almost two years ago, auctioneer, David Costelloe described the site “as a most unusual property and one that rarely comes on the market”.
“It is a cracking site, located in heart of Lahinch and on the doorsteps of the Atlantic Ocean and Lahinch beach”.
Mr Costelloe said the site may suit a mixed commercial development or residential scheme and speaking after purchasing the site,
Mr Galvin said he had not yet decided what plans he had for the site. The money from the sale was to be directed towards the provision of facilities for surfers at Lahinch and the upgrading of Lahinch promenade.
