MAJOR PLANS IN STORE FOR LOFTUS HALL
EXCITING plans for Loftus Hall are at development stages.
Owner Aidan Quigley said a number of designs have been drawn up for the spooky tourist attraction, which he feels needs to expand its offering over the coming years to meet customer demand.
Open six years, the business attracts tens of thousands of visitors. This year the number of Irish visitors was down due to the fine weather, but the number of international visitors was up.
Speaking about his plans for Loftus Hall, Aidan said: ‘We are looking at the whole site. We are at a stage where we have to do something to move it on to the next level. We have always moved in five-year gaps and Loftus Hall is open six years now. If it stands still it’s going to die.’
The tourist attraction has gotten a lot of publicity over the years and has been used as the location for a film shoot, The Lodgers, and for paranormal investigations aired on a US television network.
Aidan said visitor expectations are a lot higher today than they were even in 2012 so extensive work has been carried out on the grounds, including on the gardens which have been restored to their former glory. A restaurant, accommodation on the site and an enhanced visitors experience are all on the table.
‘Accommodation is a big factor on the whole peninsula. We may look at chalets or pods. People are looking for alternative types of accommodation and some of those are on the table.’
The Brennan brothers have been visiting Loftus Hall this summer ahead of an episode which airs later in the autumn.
‘They are coming back at the end of September for two days to conclude filming. They did four days here already and we have been up to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. They came in while we were in the process of doing the development plan which had become very big so we’ve steered away from that. We will invest time and money until we get the plan right and sometimes that involves building models to see what you can do. It (Loftus Hall) wasn’t a successful convent or hotel so we won’t be revisiting either option!’
His two goals are the sustainability of the hall itself and growing the business. ‘The hall doesn’t receive any public funding and that is testing as we have a very short summer season with Hallowe’en tagged on. It stands quite unique in being a privately owned tourist attraction which does not receive state funding.’
Like other business owners and tourist attractions in the area, Aidan is eagerly awaiting news from New Ross Municipal District about what plans the body has for improving traffic to and from the lighthouse and the parking of camper vans directly in front of the south east region’s third most popular tourist attraction.
‘We want to drive on the project we have here but we need help. We have the biggest site in the area that can sustain development for the tourist market so it would be remiss of us not to be looking at all of the possibilities, not only for the Hook Peninsula, but for the New Ross area. The new bridge will change the whole dynamic. Traffic going through New Ross will be alleviated and there will be some really good signage which will really push the tourists down here. We have a unique place here and it’s the unspoilt coast that is one of the main attractions so we need to preserve that and developments have to be carried out in a very sympathetic way.’