Westlife star dines out in Moate!

The new restaurant at The Gap House in Moate had a special visitor this week when Westlife star Mark Feehily stopped in for dinner.

The local business said it was "an absolute pleasure" to have the singer dine there yesterday (Thursday).

"Thank you for choosing our restaurant for your evening, it was great to meet you!" The Gap House wrote in a social media post.

Moate native Kieran O'Shaughnessy and his wife Alex, both of whom are chefs, have been running the restaurant at The Gap House for the last four months.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this afternoon, Kieran said Mark Feehily had called in with some relatives and friends.

"It caused a bit of a stir in the restaurant alright!" said Kieran.

"They had food, and really enjoyed the food, so I took the opportunity to get a picture with one of our staff.

"Mark was aware that the restaurant is newly opened, so it was nice that he agreed to give us that photo opportunity to give it a bit of a push."

Kieran said the overall response to the new eatery at the long-established Moate pub had been positive.

"The response so far has been good. We've had good local support," he said.