Plan to turn Crossmolina’s Dolphin Hotel function room into ten bedrooms goes to appeal

Pat Mulhern Civil Engineering has appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála after Mayo County Council refused permission to convert Crossmolina’s Dolphin Hotel function room into ten bedrooms.

The hotel, acquired in 2017, ceased trading in November 2024 and began providing emergency accommodation for homeless people.

Mayo County Council rejected the plan in August 2025, citing inadequate parking and potential traffic safety issues.

The proposal faced 78 objections, including from lobby groups who want the hotel to reopen as a functioning venue. An Coimisiún Pleanála will decide on the appeal by 14 January 2026.

Mary Gordon shared: “Converting the function room into residential accommodation would constitute an overdevelopment of the site, resulting in a sub-standard development which would alter the existing character of the immediate area in an undesirable manner and depreciate the value of the adjoining properties in the vicinity.”