Insurance issues force temporary closure of Moate’s Dún na Sí

One of Westmeath’s most popular tourist attractions, the Dún na Sí Amenity and Heritage Park in Moate, was forced to close its doors to the public this week due to insurance issues.

A notice posted on its website on Monday morning stated that “due to circumstances beyond our control, the Amenity and Heritage Park is closed at the moment.”

Chair of the Board of Dún na Sí Declan Ganley confirmed to the Westmeath Independent that the company was left with “no choice” but to close its doors when their insurance cover was “pulled” last week with minimal notice.

“We were informed by our broker last week that our insurance had been stopped, so that left us with no choice but to close the park,” said Mr Ganley.

While he described the action as “very regrettable” Mr Ganley said they are currently working “round the clock” to source another insurance underwriter and are hopeful of being able to re-open the Moate tourist facility “within a week.”

Acknowledging that insurance cover is “a huge issue” for all public bodies, Declan Ganley said it is going to be “much tougher and harder” to get insurance cover in future unless some action is taken at Government level to address the underlying problems in the insurance industry.

“We are very hopeful that we will be able to secure insurance cover and that we will be able to re-open Dún na Sí to visitors within a week,” said Mr. Ganley.

The original Dún na Sí Centre opened in 1985, and joined forces with the Midlands Amenity Park Association in 2015 to create the current Amenity and Heritage Park on a 27 acre parkland site in Moate.

Dún na Sí is one of the area’s most popular visitor attractions. Earlier this year, it was awarded €126,000 under the Government’s Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.

The funding is to be used to renew a section of outdoor infrastructure in the park, including the repair, replacement and development of the outdoor path system, equipment and toilet facilities.