Talks are to continue between Tipperary County Council and the owner of the former Munster Hotel and Carpark in Thurles. The hotel has been vacant for several years but did obtain planning permission in 2022 for a ground floor retail development – work on this redevelopment never commenced.
Tipperary Council has leased the car park from the owner, Mr Martin Healy, providing up to 100 car parking spaces and a location for school buses. The lease was due to expire at the end of February 2024 and to date no new agreement has been reached between the parties.
Both sides have now agreed a two-month extension of the lease to ease concerns about the loss of the facility and the subsequent negative impacts on parking.
Councillors in Thurles are calling on the Council to purchase the entire site and redevelop the property on Cathedral Street. The MIC campus is to directly to the rear of the hotel complex prompting some suggestions that it could be redeveloped as student accommodation or recreation facilities.
