Jim Treacy, the former owner of the Lough Erne Resort, the host of the 2013 G8
IN THE week following the announcement that the Lough Erne Golf Resort is back on the market for £10 million, its original owner, Jim Treacy, who lost control of the resort in 2011, has not ruled out a return to the helm at the G8 summit venue.
With just over a month until the world will descend upon Fermanagh, Mr Treacy has expressed disappointment in those he said who are, ‘clamouring for G8 notoriety’ who weren’t ‘more supportive in times of past’.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Treacy reflected on his initial vision for the resort, which stretches back as far as 1999/2000, when he bought Castle Hume golf course, and adjoining land, and the lengths he went to ‘do something for the county that I came from’.
He spent the first year developing the Castle Hume golf course, and building a clubhouse.
There were 120 – 130 acres of land adjoining, however, and Mr Treacy spoke of how visitors would describe that land as the place where the golf course ‘should have been’.
And, with Sir Nick Faldo, and the Faldo team on board, it wasn’t long before things began to take shape.
“They designed the golf course that is what we know today as the Lough Erne course,” continued Mr Treacy.
He went on: “So then it gradually progressed, and went through planning and all the different stages – and then we had to get the grant from Invest NI, and that took a long, long time.
“From the outset it was so difficult to convince them that a hotel would work in Fermanagh and that a golf course would combine together with it.”
The resort opened in 2007.
“What were my thoughts? Not a lot. I just progressed through the thing. Of course [I was happy] because it got acclaim from all over the world.
“The reason I was drawn to the whole thing was to do something for the county that I came from.
“And I felt it was good to do something.”
However, in 2011, the Bank of Scotland Ireland, placed the resort into administration.
“What can you do? You’re in unprotected waters, how do you protect yourself against that?
“So then they move in, they put administrators in place.
“They have traded now for nearly two years, and it’s now come back on the market for sale again.”
In the meantime, the G8 Summit, due to be held in the UK this year, needed a venue.
“If it wasn’t there, the G8 wouldn’t be coming to Fermanagh,” Mr Treacy said.
“I think your ordinary man on the street is wise enough to know that.
“In the long term, it will give a massive recognition factor of Fermanagh.
“Bottom line: I put the money there to make that happen, it took a lot of effort, massive personal sacrifice to put that on the ground, and it’s on the ground today.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would attract the like of the G8. I knew it would attract, and will in the future, attract many golf events and all that sort of stuff, but I never thought you’d end up with the G8 here.”
Last week, CERE Hotels, who are conducting the sale on behalf of the receiver, KPMG, revealed that the hotel was back on the market for £10 million.
But what does its original developer think?
“I’ll be dealing with it in my own way, in my own time and we’ll see where we go.”
He stated: “I’m a pragmatist, if it works, if I have the ability.
“I put it all together, I think I have the ability to put it back together. But, who knows? We’ll see.
“If I’m given fairness, and a fair wind and acknowledgement for what I did.
“And, I will say one thing: It’s a pity that some of the people who are now clamouring for G8 notoriety or whatever goes with it, weren’t a bit more supportive in times past.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere