Dundalk businessman purchases Crowne Plaza Hotel

A DUNDALk born businessman has bought the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk for a figure reported to be in the region of €11 million. The hotel which is situated just off the M1 motorway has been sold to East Coast Catering Ireland, the company that also owns the Fairways Hotel.

The hotel which had been owned by the Tifco Hotel Group has 129 guest bedrooms and suites as well as a 160-space surface car park, a gym, a rooftop restaurant, bar/restaurant and coffee bar at ground level of the hotel, nine meeting rooms as well as many conference facilities.

Patrick O’Callaghan, who leads East Coast Catering, is a Dundalk native who has lived in Canada for more than 30 years. The eighty year old graduated in Hotel Management from St. Mary’s College, Dublin, in 1965 and has worked in the hotel and food service industry since that time.

He founded East Coast Catering Limited in 1984. From humble beginnings competing against global service providers for catering contracts in Canada’s fledgling offshore oil and gas industry, Pat has guided the company’s growth to its status today with operations in seven Canadian provinces and Ireland, providing services to the oil and gas, mining and industrial construction sectors.

Prior to establishing ECC, Pat worked in the hotel industry as Food and Beverage Manager and General Manager in five star hotels in Ireland, England, USA and Canada. He came to

Plaza has been sold for a reported €11 million

Atlantic Canada in 1971 to serve as Food and Beverage Manager of the Hotel Nova Scotian with the former CN Hotels. In 1974 he moved to Newfoundland as Executive Assistant to General Manager Gordon Mckay at Hotel Newfoundland. He was appointed General Manager in 1976. He planned and oversaw construction of the new Hotel Newfoundland (now The Fairmont Newfoundland) and served as its General Manager until he founded ECC.

The Crowne Plaza is East Coast Catering’s second foray into the hotel market in Dundalk with the group also acquiring the Fairways Hotel in 2015 for a reported €2.5 million. East Coast redeveloped the site which now boasts a SuperValu store as well as a pharmacy, coffee shop and apartments. The four star Fairways Hotel is managed by iNua.