Work started on new cinema on Harbour Street

Preliminary work has started on Omniplex's €5m new cinema in Harbour Street.

An Omniplex spokesperson confirmed to the Westmeath Examiner that preliminary work has started on the firm's new five screen cinema on the site of the overflow car park for Harbour Place Shopping Centre.

While he said that it was too early to give a definitive date, the spokesperson said that the firm was hopeful of opening in the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2023.

The new cinema will include an Omniplex Maxx auditorium complete with 16-metre-wide screens, luxury rocker seats, double sofa-beds, Barco laser projection and Dolby audio technology.

The project was given the go-ahead last September by An Bord Pleanála after an appeal was lodged against Westmeath County Council's decision to grant planning permission.

Omniplex director Mark Anderson's 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 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.

Last November Omniplex, which operates 34 cinemas on the island of Ireland, announced that Mullingar was part of a wider investment of €11m that also included a new cinema in Ballinasloe and the renovation of its cinema in Nenagh. The firm said that combined the three projects would create over 100 jobs during construction and 65 full and part time jobs when operational.

“The development of regional cinema in Ireland is a core strategy for Omniplex underlined by recent Omniplex openings in Drogheda, Killarney and Shannon. We look forward to creating new movie memories in Ballinasloe, Nenagh and Mullingar,” Mr Anderson said.