Letter to the Editor: A hulking carbuncle atop Tramore
Tramore's derelict Grand Hotel, which dominates the skyline of the seaside town.
Dear Editor,
If there is a more depressing blot on Waterford’s skylines than the hulk of the derelict Grand Hotel in Tramore, then I do not know of it. Since it changed ownership in 2014, the recent history of this once proud establishment has been one of unrelenting decrepitude and dereliction.
Its sad state is not just an aesthetic calamity for the town and county, but has also hamstrung the town’s economic viability and its potential to attract more high-spending visitors to the coastal area of east Waterford.
Conservative estimates would indicate that the loss of the hotel for the last decade or so has denied the town some €35 million of spend – and every passing year of closure is an annual loss of about €3 million.
Waterford City and County Council was slow out of the traps in pursuing the new owner in 2014. However, the derelict sites legislation provides for a 7% annual levy, plus interest of 1.25% for unpaid fines, per month!
The hotel was sold for a reported half-million in 2014, yet – despite being internally pillaged and stripped for the remainder of that decade – was supposedly sold again for a rumoured multi-million amount, before being turned over again a short while later.
Whatever about the failures of the past decade, it is grossly unfair now in 2026 to the town, its people and its economy, to allow this outrage to continue without remediation.
It needs concentrated and directed actions, such as the establishment of a no-nonsense Task Force to tackle such a huge haemorrhage of potential from our local economy. And that potential has probably every bit as much validity for support as such well-buttressed ventures like Mount Congreve and the airport.
It is simply grossly unfair to blight one of Ireland’s finest resorts and magnificent bays by carrying on with a hulking carbuncle atop the town that tells a lingering tale of inaction and hand-wringing. It is a task that must be addressed urgently in 2026.
Senator Joe Conway
