Plans for five new houses in Seatown overturned by An Bord Pleanála

38 Seatown

Louth County Council’s decision to allow a house in Seatown be demolished in place of three houses and two apartments has been overturned by An Bord Pleanála.

Back in April Valentine Mongey was given the go ahead by the local authority to demolish 38 Seatown and build five dwellings in its place.

However, local residents appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála who found that the proposed development “would seriously injure the residential amenities of neighbouring houses by virtue of the overlooking of rear windows and private rear open space.”

They added that it would reduce privacy for existing residents and lead to overshadowing in their gardens.

They also found that the development would also result in “substandard accommodation that would seriously detract from the residential amenity of future occupants by virtue of the inadequate provision of private open space to serve each residential unit.”

They also said the plans failed to provide windows on all habitable rooms and failed to meet minimum room sizes set out by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

It had been hoped to construct a 3 bed terraced house, two 2 bed apartments and two semi-detached 3 bed houses.

38 Seatown, a three bed end of terrace house on a large site with land beside it, was bought for €110,000 in October 2013.

Lyons returns to Dundalk to launch Kentucky beers in McManus’

Pearse Lyons (right) pictured with local businessman Bernard Conlon in McManus’ last night

Dundalk-born millionaire Pearse Lyons returned home last night to help promote his Kentucky ale craft beer collection in McManus’ pub in Seatown.

While best known for being the brains behind animal health and nutrition firm Alltech, Lyons – who started out working the Harp Lager brewery in Dundalk – also oversees Alltech’s Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company.

The firm have a line of beers such as Kentucky Ale, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout, as well as spirits including Town Branch Bourbon, Pearse Lyons Reserve malt whiskey and Bluegrass Sundown, a bourbon-infused coffee drink.

Samples of the Kentucky products went down very well on the night with a large crowd turning out for the launch and entertainment provided by Celtic Dawn.

Try out the products for yourself by calling into McManus’ in Seatown over the weekend.

One Dundalk bar close to being sold while another is set to reopen

McManus’ Bar in Seatown

One of Dundalk’s best known bars is close to being sold while another is set to reopen.

McManus’ Bar in Seatown went on the market last February but has gone sale agreed in recent weeks with local estate agents REA Gunne Property.

The bar, located on the corner of Seatown and Mary Street North, had an asking price of €350,000.

It has a number of bar areas, a lounge, a music/games room, a private beer garden with smoking facilities, residential accommodation overhead and a commercial off sales area that benefits from own door access onto Seatown.

The property is leased for a period of 4 years 9 months from March 1^st 2014 at an annual rent of €26,000 and the current tenant will be unaffected by the sale.

Meanwhile, the Central Bar in Clanbrassil Street – which traded most recently as Benny Brady’s – is also set to reopen shortly. The new venture will be called Eoin’s Bar, with new signage erected in the last week.

Donnelly’s Bar to host Trek in the ‘Coolies’ this Saturday in aid of Temple Street

Donnelly’s Bar in Seatown will host a Trek in the ‘Coolies’ this Saturday in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Those taking part are asked to assemble at the bar from 10am, with courtesy buses leaving to be at Ballymakellett in Ravensdale for 11am.

There will then be a 10k walk across the Cooley Mountains into Carlingford, where buses will be on hand to take people back to Donnelly’s.

The pub will then provide a free BBQ and live music.

Registration for the event costs €25. For sponsorship cards and more details contact Eamonn on 086 3401151 or Daniel on 042 9337354.

Dundalk publican hits out at Government’s decision to increase minimum wage

Greg Gormley (third from left) with staff on the opening night of Russell’s in April

A local publican has hit out at the government’s decision to increase the minimum wage by 50 cent from September.

Greg Gormley, who runs the Castle Bar in Seatown and Russell’s in Park Street, told The Sunday Business Post yesterday that the timing of the increase was all wrong, pointing out that day time trade in the business was still more or less non-existent.

“There is growth in Dundalk, but it’s no where near the growth in cities like Dublin, Cork and Galway.

“Rural pubs that survived the recession are coming back at a much slower pace. When you pay out more, you have to cut somewhere else and that somewhere else is likely to be staff hours.

“If I pay minimum wage to a part-time staff member of €8.65 for 37 hours a week that works out at €320.05. The proposed 50 cent increase would put the same single wage up to €338.55 a week.

“If I have three part-time staff on the new, higher wage, it would be an increase of €2,886 a year on those wages. Paying three part-time staff that extra wage is the equivalent of paying another member 8.5 extra weeks a year, which would cover busier periods over Easter, Christmas and during the summer. That’s a seasonal job for someone.”

Gormley, who is chairman of the Louth Branch of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, said the likes of commercial rates, utility rates, bin charges and bank charges were also putting more pressure on small businesses that are still struggling.

“If I put a 6% increase on the price of drink in my pubs, my customers would vote with their feet and go elsewhere.

“I’ve had the same staff at the Castle Bar since I opened. If they’ve ever been short of something, I’ve always looked after them.

“Certainly, when business improves we can factor minimum wage increases in but the timing of this is totally wrong. I think staff talking about the increase amongst themselves will say ‘if someone will pay €9.15 an hour, why not just make it €10’, and that will put even more pressure on employers.

“I see it as a disaster,” he said.

Former No 32 Restaurant in Chapel Street up for sale

The former No 32 Restaurant on Chapel Street has gone on the market with an asking price of €150,000.

The restaurant at 32 Chapel Street, which was operated by Susan Heraghty for 18 years, has been closed since the end of last summer.

The building, which occupies a pivotal corner position at the junction between Seatown, Market Street and Chapel Street, has been idle since then but is now up for sale through local estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Carroll.

According to its sales brochure, the two storey 60 seater restaurant benefits from dual entrances off Chapel Street and Market Street and is fully fitted out with a kitchen and dining area.

The ground floor has 800sq ft of space, while the first floor has a further 1,005sq ft.

For further details contact Sherry FitzGerald Carroll on 042 9332173.

 

 

McGahon tipped to replace Fitzpatrick on Fine Gael election ticket

Cllr John McGahon

Local councillor John McGahon is reportedly being lined up to replace Peter Fitzpatrick on the local Fine Gael ticket for the next General Election.

Fitzpatrick announced yesterday that he would not be seeking a nomination from the party to run in the next election when their selection convention takes place on July 9^th.

That leaves a vacancy in the north of the county with today’s Irish Independent reporting that Cllr McGahon, a representative in Dundalk-Carlingford, could be set to fill the void.

The 24-year-old, from Seatown, received 7.77% of the first preference votes in his constituency in last year’s local elections, eventually taking the fourth of six seats behind Sinn Féin pair Edel Corrigan and Jim Loughran and newly appointed county council chairman, Peter Savage of Fianna Fáil.

A nephew of former Louth TD Brendan McGahon, who represented the county in the Dáíl from 1982 until 2002, John is vying for one of two possible positions.

Sitting TD Fergus O’Dowd has confirmed he will run for election once again while there is said to be disagreement in the party whether they should run two candidates or three, with Ardee-based councillor Dolores Minogue tipped to be in the running to satisfy gender quotas.

Tea and coffee day in aid of Cara Cancer Support Centre this Saturday

A tea and coffee day in aid of the Cara Cancer Support Centre in Williamson’s Place will take place this Saturday in the Men’s Shed headquarters in Seatown.

The event runs from 10am to 4pm and all are invited along on the day to support a great cause.

St Vincent’s to stage Bring It On

St Vincent’s Secondary School in Seatown will stage Bring It On The Musical from Thursday May 14th to Saturday May 16th.

Tickets, priced €10 each, are available from the school office with discounted family tickets available.

Appeal lodged against five new houses planned for Seatown

38 Seatown

An appeal has been lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Louth County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for five new homes in Seatown.

Valentine Mongey was given the go ahead earlier this month to demolish 38 Seatown and build five new dwellings in its place.

However, two appeals have now been lodged against the local authority’s decision to grant conditional planning permission.

It had been hoped to construct a 3 bed terraced house, two 2 bed apartments and two semi-detached 3 bed houses.

38 Seatown, a three bed end of terrace house on a large site with land beside it, was bought for €110,000 in October 2013.