Group went from being a minnow to major player
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THE expansion of the Lynch Hotel Group has slowly been picking up speed since Michael and Christina Lynch set up the West County Hotel in Ennis in 1968.
The family added another hotel and then a third in 1998, the year that Coopers and Lybrand-trained Michael B Lynch took over the day-to-day running of the hotel.
A year later, inspired by tax breaks, the company bought two more hotels.
It realised a long-held ambition to move into Dublin by buying the Jurys Green Isle Hotel for €11m with the help of bank loans.
More deals, such as sale-and lease-back agreements, followed but the basic structure of the group was established until 2008. The Green Isle was sold at a loss of €10m and the Breaffy House Hotel in Castlebar, Co Mayo, bought for an estimated €6m.
The group is believed to have spent a further €7m on the property, adding 65 new bedrooms and a leisure centre and spa complex. The hotel had a much lower occupancy rate than had been hoped for, the court heard yesterday.
