Madam, - Some time ago I was involved in the restoration of a house in Co Sligo, similar in size to Lissadell and described at the time in The Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland as being "derelict".
The roof had mostly gone, the structure was riddled with dry and wet rot and it had not been lived in for years.
The ornate plasterwork was in a very sad state, as was the whole building. Services were non-existent.
The cost of restoration and conversion into a 30-bedroom hotel, even allowing for inflation, was a very small percentage of the Government's latest estimate for works deemed necessary to be expended on Lissadell; perhaps they might like to publish a breakdown of their costings. Lissadell has recently been re-roofed and it is hard to see how a figure of €30 million could be computed.
Perhaps the services of Senor Manuel Melis, the designer of the Madrid Metro, should be engaged - apparently he has some experience in cost control and project management. - Yours, etc.,
CHRISTOPHER S. PRINGLE, Chartered Civil Engineer, Monaghan.