An Bord Pleanala to decide fate of €5m Mullingar cinema

(Above) The site of the proposed cinema.

Rodney Farry

An Bord Pleanala is scheduled to decide on Thursday whether or not to give the green light for a new €5m cinema in the centre of Mullingar.

On April 2, Westmeath County Council granted planning permission to Omniplex Ltd to develop a five screen cinema on the site of the Harbour Place Shopping Centre overflow car park. An appeal against the decision was lodged with An Bord Pleanala on April 17.

The Westmeath Examiner reported recently that the appellant, a Siobhan Ni Neill of Rathfarnham, Dublin, has the same address as a person who tried to prevent an extension to a cinema in Galway.

In her appeal to ABP, Ms Ni Neill claimed that the planning application was contrary to proper planning under a number of headings, including design and architectural conservation, integration, road infrastructure and parking and flood risk and damage to habitats. According to the planning registers, Ms Ni Neill has the same Rathfarnham address as a Suzanne O’Neill, who in 2017 unsuccessfully lodged an appeal with ABP against Radical Properties Ltd’s plans to extend the Eye Cinema in Galway. The receipt for the €20 submission fee for Ms O’Neill’s original objection to Galway City Council against Radical Properties’ application was issued to Galway Multiplex, which operates the IMC Cinema in Galway. IMC also operates a cinema at Lakepoint Retail Park in Mullingar.

Omniplex operates 28 cinemas on the island of Ireland, 15 in Northern Ireland and 13 in the Republic of Ireland.

If their application is given the goahead by ABP, Omniplex estimates that between 18 and 25, part- and full-time positions will be created when the cinema is operational.