Home

€100m hotel for Dublin Airport

British group Arora plans to spend €100 million building a 410-bedroom hotel at Dublin Airport in a project employing up to 550 people between construction and running the arora

business.

Following a public tender Arora has agreed a deal with DAA, to design, build and finance a new hotel on a site just in front of the existing Terminal 2 carpark.

The British company this week sought permission from Fingal County Council to build the hotel, which will have 410 bedrooms over 11 storeys and cost an estimated €100 million to construct.

Around 300 workers will be needed to build the property, while the hotel will employ 250 people once it opens. Arora will run it under an as yet un-named global brand.

Founded and run by its chief executive, billionaire Surinder Arora, the British group owns and runs 12 hotels with more than 5,000 rooms in the greater London area. Ten are at airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

Outdoor Dining for four Dublin streets

Four Dublin streets are set to be pedestrianised as the city prepares for an outdoor summer amid easing of Covid restrictions. street

Dublin City Council confirmed that work has begun to pedestrianise the streets to facilitate outdoor dining.

The Council is also being lobbied to restrict traffic on Merrion Row.

From Monday May 24, the following four streets will be either traffic-free, or have sections of them traffic-free daily after 11am.

Anne Street South from the junction of Dawson Street

South William Street from Exchequer Street to the Brown Thomas carpark exit

Drury Street from just after its junction with Fade Street to the Drury Street underground carpark

The council say the decision was made following a number of successful trial runs last July and August.

Doubt over Gaeltacht vacations

The Department responsible for the Gaeltacht has been in talks with directors of summer colleges and household providers as to whether Gaeltacht courses will go ahead this teens0521

summer.

An official announcement is expected soon but early indications are that a full or even partial reopening is looking less likely.

Thousands of teenagers travel to the Gaeltacht every year to immerse themselves in the Irish language, culture and craic.

Covid-19 saw the cancellation of courses at Gaeltacht colleges nationwide last year. The cost to the local economies is estimated to be in the region of €50 million.

Now a repeat scenario for 2021 is looking more likely.

The Gaeltacht experience does not fit neatly into social distancing requirements - even with restrictions in place - should the colleges reopen.

'Start Planning Summer' says Holohan

The Chief Medical Officer has said it is time for people to "feel hopeful" and to start planning their summer. cruiser

From next week inter-county travel resumes for the first time since Christmas, while up to three households can meet outdoors, including in private gardens.

Non-essential retail reopens for click-and-collect, as well as for appointment-only shopping in-store, while personal services such as barbers and hairdressers can also resume trading on an appointment basis.

Galleries, museums, libraries and other cultural attractions can reopen, and adult sports training can resume outdoors in pods of 15.

"We all want the easing of restrictions next week to be a significant turning point in this pandemic," Dr Tony Holohan has said.

"We have worked so hard to reduce the spread of this disease. More than 30% of adults have now been vaccinated with one dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland and it is time to feel hopeful and to start planning our summer.

€1.14bn Q1 loss at IAG

Aer Lingus-owner IAG reported a €1.14bn loss for the three months to end-March and forecast only a small rise in capacity to 25% for the April-June quarter. aerlingus

The group, which also owns British Airways and Iberia, flew just 20% capacity in the three months to the end of March. The reported loss was slightly better than the €1.17bn consensus forecast.

IAG said it drew down on debt facilities including £2bn for British Airways from UK Export Finance and €75m for Aer Lingus from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.