Receivers appointed but Glenlo Abbey remains open for business

Date Published: 14-Mar-2012

Receivers have been appointed to the landmark five-star Glenlo Abbey Hotel in Galway, which has debts of in the region of €8 million.

It’s understood that the owners had pinned their hopes on selling off land for the Galway City Outer Bypass to clear their massive bank debts.

The hotel will continue to operate, after

a professional hotel management company, Tifco, was appointed by the joint receivers Aengus Burns and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton.

The Bourke family from Salthill – who bought Glenlo nearly 30 years ago – will continue to have an involvement in running the hotel.

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) took control of the luxury hotel to protect their debts – the premises had been making heavy losses in recent years.

Aengus Burns told the Connacht Tribune: “All bookings will be honoured, Glenlo Abbey continues to operate as normal, with the full cooperation of the Bourke family.

“It will be controlled by the receivers on behalf of the bank, but members of the family are still heavily involved in management. Brian Bourke is General Manager.

“The appointment of a receiver will bring some comfort – all the other hotels we were appointed receivers to have received capital funding.

“Glenlo is a fine name and a fine product. The owners had a lack of resources and were unable to find investment. The receivership will make the bank more comfortable and allow them making funding available as required,” said Mr Burns.

The most recent accounts available for Glenlo Abbey Ltd (for the year ending December 31, 2008) show the company incurred a loss of more than €3.2m.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.