Ballinadee siblings set to makeover second bus

NOT content with having one bus, the McCarthy family from Ballinadee have gone and bought another, aptly named ‘Ballinadee Bus-Eile’ to add to their portfolio of quirky accommodation offerings at their farm.

Earlier this year, their transformation of a former Dublin bus into luxury Airbnb accommodation captured the public’s imagination. They started the project after they lost their dad Paddy to suicide last year.

RTÉ’s Dermot Bannon even paid a visit to Thomas, Anna and Rachel to share some advice as they sought to transform the bus into liveable accommodation and they featured on his ‘Super Small Spaces’ show.

The new bus  came via Kent originally before ending up in Newry, when Thomas and his siblings got wind that it was for sale.

‘My sister’s fiancé Aidan saw it on Done Deal. A young fella from Newry who had fully converted it was selling it as he was moving to Denmark and it was too good an opportunity to  miss,’ said Thomas.

‘We drove up to Newry the next day and we put a deposit on it and got it towed down to the farm. We plan to dig a new site near the current bus.’

Eagled-eye Liam Murphy from Bandon found a picture of the bus when it was in operation in Edinburgh, and while it has been converted, they still plan to put their own distinctive mark on it.

‘We had a great summer and we’ve been almost full this month and we are open all winter too.

‘The plan for next year is that we will be able to do this full time and take a wage from it.’