Developer to submit planning bid for key Athlone town site

A planning application for a new building on the site of the former O’Neill’s pub in the centre of Athlone could be submitted shortly, it has emerged.

Westmeath County Council has said that a potential developer could submit a planning application early this year.

The information was revealed at February recent meeting of the council's Athlone Moate Municipal District on foot of a question by Cllr Aengus O’Rourke.

The council previously said its agents, Avison Young, had received an expression of interest.

“The developer is keen to progress and plans to submit a planning application in early 2026. An in-committee presentation from the developer will be arranged once they have their plans and particulars at planning stage,” the council said, in a written response to Cllr O’Rourke.

The council said that details of the proposed disposal of lands involved in the process would be brought before the council members for consideration in due course.

Details of an interest in the long-derelict former O'Neill's pub site first emerged in October last.

At that stage, the council said it had received a proposal for the site from an interested party and discussions were ongoing "with a view to the sale and development” of the site.

Clllr O'Rourke said at the time that, he would like to see any development incorporate commercial premises on the ground floor with overhead accommodation.

He said the O’Neill’s site “could do with a well-designed site, with commercial on the ground floor - whether that's offices or retail - and then apartments. I think there's even scope to go higher than it was, particularly with the skyline in the surrounding area.”

The former O'Neill's pub and adjoining Finlay Auctioneering premises were both destroyed by fire in December 2010 and have remained derelict ever since.

The site was initially placed on the market in May 2022, but a sale did not materialise, and the council moved to remarket it early in 2025.