The Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, is likely to remain closed until early in the new year after an outbreak of norovirus on the premises.
The closure due to the highly-contagious winter vomiting bug means alternative venues will have to be found for five weddings scheduled to take place at the hotel over the Christmas period.
The four-star hotel, once owned by Seán Quinn's family, informed the Health Service Executive (HSE) on December 12th after its residents, staff and customers began suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea. Despite attempts to minimise the risk to staff and customers, further incidents of the infection occurred and it was decided to close the hotel.
The Slieve Russell is owned by Avid Asset Management in Cavan, which manage all the Quinn properties on behalf of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).
General manager Tony Walker said it was in touch with hotels in the Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim areas to find alternative venues for the couples involved.
Mr Walker said it was a “huge inconvenience” for those affected, “but at the end of the day we are being pro-active and responsible to close the business. We have to take into consideration the health and safety of all our guests.”
He anticipated the hotel will be shut until early January, with a specialist cleaning contractor on site from Wednesday.
The hotel has 222 rooms and is an extremely popular wedding venue.
A HSE spokesperson said clinical testing confirmed the outbreak was caused by the norovirus infection.
"There is currently a high incidence of this infection in the community in Ireland and outbreaks have been noted in hospitals, residential care homes and schools throughout the country," said the HSE.
The HSE said the hotel “will reopen as soon as all possible environmental sources of the virus have been disinfected. The HSE and hotel management deeply regret the inconvenience this closure will cause to patrons of the Slieve Russell, but consider this action as necessary to safeguard public health.”
