Gort hotelier’s dirty water protest

Date Published: 23-Apr-2009

A TOP hotelier in Gort was faced with a peculiar dilemma yesterday – have his water supply cut off and fire his 20 employees, or pay up €13,000 that he claims Galway County Council should be paying him.

John Sullivan, owner of Sullivan’s Royal Hotel , is furious about the water quality in Gort. It is so discoloured that clothes come out dirtier than when they went into a washing machine.

He is also sick of providing a service that is the responsibility of the council. His establishment has become the stopoff point for coaches of tourists who need to relieve themselves. He counted 172 people over a six-hour period on one day recently who traipsed in and out of his hotel to use the bathroom facilities.

The town is a popular stopoff point for tours travelling to the West of Ireland to give toilet breaks as there is ample free parking in the town square for coaches.

There have been calls for the council to provide public toilets in Gort since 1973 but to no avail.

The public had been..