Tag Archives: Marcus White

IN CORK parlance, Billy Murphy might known a ‘scobe’, but Shane Casey, the actor who plays him in hit comedy Young Offenders, will be on his best behaviour when he visits North Clare at the weekend. Shane shot to fame in the Cork-based comedy and became a cult hero after serenading a hijacked bus with a blistering cover of The Frank and Walter’s ‘After All’. He will be in Lisdoonvarna on Saturday night (February 12) to officially launch the new teenage disco at The Hydro Hotel. The pandemic put a spanner in the works for the planned disco back in 2020 and organisers are thrilled that it’s all systems go. “We are delighted that Shane was available for this launch –  we had to postpone this event in March, two years ago, when the pandemic hit – so we are delighted it’s back,” said Marcus White, Managing Director of the Hydro. “There is a huge pent-up demand for teenage discos from young people …

A public meeting held in Lisdoonvarna on Wednesday night, voted 197 votes to 15 to reject the location of a Direct Provision centre in the town. Up to 30 asylum seekers are due in Lisdoonvarna on Monday March 12, with 115 to be housed in the King Thomond Hotel throughout the duration of a one year Direct Provision contract. The hotel proprietor, Marcus White, told a public meeting on February 23 that he would listen to the views of local people. However the vote has no statutory standing and the Department of Justice have clearly indicated that it will not influence their decision to establish a Direct Provision centre in the North Clare town. At the vote on Wednesday, residents of Lisdoonvarna, Doolin and Kilshanny were asked: “Do you want the proposed Direct Provision contract?” “It has become very obvious over the past week that the community empathises with asylum seekers but is opposed to them being kept in Direct …

UP to 115 asylum seekers are to be accommodated at a Direct Provision centre in Lisdoonvarna from March 5. In an email seen by The Clare Champion, the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) has confirmed that the King Thomond Hotel in Lisdoonvarna, owned by hotelier Marcus White, was selected as Clare’s second Direct Provision centre, following a public advertisement for expressions of interest on January 8. The county’s other Direct Provision centre in Knockalisheen, Meelick opened in 2002. When contacted on Wednesday for a comment, Mr White said he could not speak on the matter until Friday, when a representative of the RIA will be in Lisdoonvarna to meet with local councillors and TDs “to answer any queries” they may have. In a short statement, Clare County Council said it had urged the RIA to consult with the community in Lisdoonvarna. “Clare County Council was contacted by the department in relation to this matter last week. Clare County Council strongly …

A BACHELOR farmer, who has been coming to Lisdoonvarna for the past 70 years, is still hopeful he will meet “the one”. Ninety-two-year-old Mick Burke, a sheep farmer from Borrislea in County Tipperary, first came to Lisdoonvarna with his mother in 1946. Mick, who was 23 at the time, said, “I fell in love with the atmosphere, the music and the dancing and, of course, the women. After that I was hooked and have been coming back every year since, still hopeful I will meet someone. “I never married. I had a lot of lucky escapes. I fell in love with several women I met in Lisdoonvarna,” he said. A pocket-full of phone numbers he picked up on his visits to the Spa town in September was, he said, “ my fodder for the winter”. He had no shortage of dates and would go dances but had no notion of getting married. “I had a few girlfriends over the years; …

LISDOONVARNA could be the Baden-Baden of Ireland, a local hotelier has claimed. The German town rose to international fame when it was used as a base by the English soccer team, as well as players’ wives and girlfriends, during the 2006 Fifa World Cup. The spa resort in the foothills of the Black Forest welcomes millions of day visitors and hundreds of thousands of over-night tourists each year. Marcus White of White’s Hotel Group, which owns the Hydro Hotel, the Imperial Hotel and the Burren Castle Hotel in Lisdoonvarna, believes the North Clare town could boom in a similar fashion, if the town’s spa wells are developed. Lisdoonvarna became a popular resort in the early 1800s because of the spa wells and its waters, containing minerals reputed to have health restorative effects. Mr White last week announced deals with German tour operators that would see 60,000 additional bed nights filled in North Clare. “I have talked to Government officials. I …

A CLARE hotel is to bring thousands of German visitors to the county between now and October, resulting in 60,000 additional bed nights here and 211,000 nationally. Whites Hotel Group, which owns the Hydro Hotel, the Imperial Hotel and the Burren Castle Hotel in Lisdoonvarna, as well as hotels elsewhere in Ireland, announced this week that it is to bring 5,500 German tourists here this year, as part of one agreement with a tour operator filling 25,000 bed nights in Clare and one with a different tour operator, which will result in 35,000 more in the county. Marcus White, the man behind the deals, said while this is great for the Whites Group, it will also have benefits for other businesses. “There is a great spin-off for the economy because we use the Aillwee Caves, Kilmacduagh, Loop Head Lighthouse, The Vandeleur Gardens in Kilrush, we bring them to visit Ennis town and spend some money there. This will create jobs. …