Decision not made yet on cinema plan

An Bord Pleanála’s decision on whether to grant planning permission for a new cinema in the centre of Mullingar has been put back.

The fate of Omniplex Ltd's plan for a five screen cinema on the site of the Harbour Place Shopping Centre overflow car park next to the Royal Canal was due to be decided by the planning authority on August 20, but this has been put back until later this month.

The application by Onmiplex was originally granted by Westmeath County Council on April 2. The decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala on April 17.

One of the men behind the project is Omniplex director, Mark Anderson, whose family has strong links to Mullingar’s cinematic history.

“From a personal perspective, it would be great for us to be back trading in Mullingar again,” Mr Anderson told the Westmeath Examiner last July when the application was at the pre-authorisation stage.

“We were involved in the Hibernian cinema, which was renamed I think as the Ritz cinema on Castle Street. We jointly owned and operated that for 30 years, so that’s a long time in the town,” he said.

Omniplex operates 28 cinemas on the island of Ireland, 15 in Northern Ireland and 13 in the Republic of Ireland. It estimates that between 18 and 25, part- and full-time positions will be created when the cinema is operational.