Hotel boss is furious with N71 work delay

THE manager of the Celtic Ross Hotel said the business is down at least €25,000 because road resurfacing works on the N71have overrun by almost three months.

Neil Grant, manager of the Rosscarbery hotel, has criticised both Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and contractors Arkil Ltd for the delays in finishing the project on time and the fact that some surfaces had to be dug up a second time and resurfaced.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Neil said there appear to have been a lot of inefficiencies with this project. ‘Having met with both TII and Arkil this week, it’s clear to me that this job should have finished in May and I am now being told that it will take another two to three weeks for it to be completed,’ said Neil.

‘Our business here is, at a conservative estimate, down €25,000 over the period with food and beverages suffering while all these resurfacing works were taking place.’

Neil added that the most upsetting thing for him is the ‘loss of reputation’ that the hotel has suffered as guests struggled to get in and out of the hotel due to the roadworks taking place in high season.

‘We had several instances where guests were stuck in the hotel and couldn’t get out while others coming at lunchtime couldn’t access the hotel because the entrance was closed for periods while resurfacing works took place.’

He is highly critical also of the communication process from both parties involved. ‘Communication was shocking and we were not told of the length of time works would take and diversions in some cases were sending people into village when they wanted to come to the hotel,’ added Neil.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) told The Southern Star that he has been inundated with calls from people frustrated over how long the works are taking and the constant delays in recent months due to the stop/go systems. ‘While people appreciate the work has to be done ... the timeline has gone way over,’ said Cllr Carroll.