LOWRYLAND.....Coming Soon!!

skelliser

PLANS FOR a “Las Vegas-style” casino, sports complex and entertainment resort near the village of Two-Mile-Borris have been approved by North Tipperary County Council.

Independent TD Michael Lowry described the decision as “a major step forward” and “refreshing and positive news at a time of gloom”.

The project, estimated to cost €460 million, could create thousands of new jobs in his Tipperary North constituency. Mr Lowry estimated that 1,000 construction workers would be hired for the three-year building phase and “between 1,500 and 2,000 sustainable, permanent jobs” created in the long-term.

The Tipperary Venue is the brainchild of developer Richard Quirke, a former garda from Thurles who is best known for running a gaming arcade, Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium, on Dublin’s O’Connell Street.

The proposed development, which An Taisce described as “mind-blowing” and “Las Vegas-style”, includes a 6,000sq m casino, a replica of the White House, a 500-bedroom five-star hotel, an entertainment complex with seating for 15,000 people, an all-weather racecourse, greyhound track, 18-hole golf course and parking for almost 6,000 cars.

Visitors would also be able to access the 800-acre site by helicopter as the plans include a “major” heliport.

The grounds would be landscaped and feature a “reproduction of Lafayette” – the seven-acre public park located directly north of the White House in Washington DC.

The “Tipperary White House” building would be used as “a banqueting facility” and also to host wedding receptions.

The project would require the diversion of two rivers and the building of a road to connect to the recently completed Dublin-Cork M8 motorway.

The existing racecourse at Thurles would clos when the facility is built.

Supporters of the project include Horse Racing Ireland, Coolmore Stud and leading trainer Aidan O’Brien.

An “extremely pleased” Mr Lowry said finance for the project was “not an issue”, that it would not require “any State aid or grants” and that it had already attracted “a keen level of interest from international investors”.

However, changes to the Gaming Act would be required for the casino to obtain a licence to operate. Mr Lowry said he expects the Government to shortly “publish a report it commissioned on the gaming laws” and to issue “a policy statement indicating that enabling legislation will be introduced which would allow the casino to operate”.

It is not known if An Taisce will appeal the planning decision to An Bord Pleanála.

The heritage body had made a submission to North Tipperary County Council claiming that such a development “couldn’t be more inappropriate”.

But Mr Lowry said the “biggest planning application ever lodged in north Tipperary” had been subjected to “thorough and rigorous analysis” by officials.

Mr Quirke said he “would like to acknowledge the efforts and assistance” of Mr Lowry because “this project would not have come to fruition if it were not for his time and dedication”.

WTF!!!!

Cavehill Red

I bet it never happens.

(I'm still waiting on the 'Vega City' theme park.)

KeithM89_old

Pfffft - it'll never hold a candle to Mosney

Sticky_Fingers

Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium

Name sounds like that of a low rent Thai brothel

skelliser

I wonder will Ben Dunne be doing the interior decorating?!

oppenheimer1

As long as its not being financed by an Irish bank, I don't care. Might even be good for the economy of Tipperary.

Celly Smunt

NAMA books already open

citizen_p

I bet it'll be overpopulated with leprachauns and irishisms to make it cringetastic.

waits for pot of gold slots and a miniture giants causway, blarney stone or newgrange.



*wish i could find the father ted clip, "it would be so easy to make somthing like that tacky"*

PanchoVilla

Looks like FF just bought Lowry's vote for the upcoming budget.

...includes a 6,000sq m casino, a replica of the White House...

Let the suicide bombings commence!!

fonecrusher1

I think it sounds brilliant. Sure why not? Huge job creation for a start.

Dravokivich

pif there's a practically empty industrial estate in Park West that can be easily fixed up into a casino resort...

PanchoVilla

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

I think it sounds brilliant. Sure why not? Huge job creation for a start.

If it weren't Michael Lowry and the government weren't depending on his vote to get this upcoming budget through I'd probably agree with you. I mean, who in Ireland wouldn't want a shítty Irish version of Las Vegas in their hometown?

fonecrusher1

PanchoVilla wrote: »

If it weren't Michael Lowry and the government weren't depending on his vote to get this upcoming budget through I'd probably agree with you. I mean, who in Ireland wouldn't want a shítty Irish version of Las Vegas in their hometown?

FFS its not going to be built in the middle of a town? A project that size will obviously be constructed on open land, the outskirts of a town/city. If it means mega job creation & a breath of life for wherever its going to be built is that so terrible?

Oh it'l never work because blah blah blah...:rolleyes: Sick of the fcuking negative attitude in this country.

Sergeant

What ever happened to the indoor ski park that was going to be created in North Dublin? Oh ya, the Celtic Tiger ended.

PanchoVilla

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

FFS its not going to be built in the middle of a town? A project that size will obviously be constructed on open land, the outskirts of a town/city. If it means mega job creation & a breath of life for wherever its going to be built is that so terrible?

Oh it'l never work because blah blah blah...:rolleyes: Sick of the fcuking negative attitude in this country.

Who said it'll never work? Of course it will work, it'll be a tacky, gaudy playground for Ireland's nouveau riche. Now all Ireland's overpaid public sector admins and TDs and the like will have a place to blow off steam after a long day at the office. They won't have to burn up their expense accounts on flights to Europe or the States.

policarp

Two Mile Vegas, kinda has a twang to it.

goose2005

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

I think it sounds brilliant. Sure why not? Huge job creation for a start.

How about we create jobs in useful industries, rather than idiotically siting a casino in a rural backwater far from any city or airport, with a stupid name ("The Tipperary Venue"???) Lowry should be in jail, and this will never be built. If it is, it will fail horribly.

SugarHigh

I don't get the White house connection.

Dempsey

He has all the land bought up well before the the announcement and they have done some archaeological digging etc to make sure that they dont run into a "find" midway through construction.

It has all the transport links besides an airport, maybe moyne airfield might get upgraded.

If you are coming to Ireland to go gambling, I'm sure you can afford a helicopter trip to the venue.

I don't get the White house connection.

The architect of the White House was born in Callan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcxjPazFB2w

PanchoVilla

Dempsey wrote: »

He has all the land bought up well before the the announcement and they have done some archaeological digging etc to make sure that they dont run into a "find" midway through construction.

It has all the transport links besides an airport, maybe moyne airfield might get upgraded.

If you are coming to Ireland to go gambling, I'm sure you can afford a helicopter trip to the venue.

The architect of the White House was born in Callan

You forgot to mention that the gaming laws will have to be changed in order for this casino to operate. That doesn't sound suspicious whatsoever.

However, changes to the Gaming Act would be required for the casino to obtain a licence to operate. Mr Lowry said he expects the Government to shortly “publish a report it commissioned on the gaming laws” and to issue “a policy statement indicating that enabling legislation will be introduced which would allow the casino to operate”.

Dempsey

PanchoVilla wrote: »

You forgot to mention that the gaming laws will have to be changed in order for this casino to operate. That doesn't sound suspicious whatsoever.

Do you want the 3000 jobs or not?

PanchoVilla

Dempsey wrote: »

Do you want the 3000 jobs or not?

I'd rather 3000 jobs for a development that will benefit the whole country as opposed to a few bougie tourists and Irish millionaires. So no, I don't want another race track or stadium. I'd prefer something which will actually be useful to this country. How about a couple of state of the art reprocessing plants for our recyclables? Maybe a family theme park designed with Ireland's bad weather in mind? Anything that has the population on the whole country in mind would be better than this awful shíte.

Edit: lol I just copped your location. It figures you'd be all over this.

Dempsey

PanchoVilla wrote: »

I'd rather 3000 jobs for a development that will benefit the whole country as opposed to a few bougie tourists and Irish millionaires. So no, I don't want another race track or stadium. I'd prefer something which will actually be useful to this country. How about a couple of state of the art reprocessing plants for our recyclables? Maybe a family theme park designed with Ireland's bad weather in mind? Anything that has the population on the whole country in mind would be better than this awful shíte.

Edit: lol I just copped your location. It figures you'd be all over this.

Yea, its just happening down the road from me.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1083867

You should watch that program. Seems that Irish people want jobs but object to all attempts at businesses starting up.

This is a private project, who says they have to have something to offer the entire country? There is a market and they are going for it. I think Horseracing, Greyhound racing, concerts, indoor sporting events & gambling would entice alot of people in ireland. It might not be your cup of tea but we all arent as boring as you!

Xiney

curious that this should be announced just before the budget and when FF are most in need of his vote.


Bet they'd have promised him a legal thai hooker brothel in Nenagh to keep him bouncing along.

Dempsey

Xiney wrote: »

curious that this should be announced just before the budget and when FF are most in need of his vote.


Bet they'd have promised him a legal thai hooker brothel in Nenagh to keep him bouncing along.

That would be a very fianna fail thing to do. He'd be wasting tax payers money getting driven from Holycross to Nenagh for his bj's :pac:

Its been in the news quite a few times over the past year before this though

PanchoVilla

Dempsey wrote: »

Yea, its just happening down the road from me.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1083867

You should watch that program. Seems that Irish people want jobs but object to all attempts at businesses starting up.

This is a private project, who says they have to have something to offer the entire country? There is a market and they are going for it. I think Horseracing, Greyhound racing, concerts, indoor sporting events & gambling would entice alot of people in ireland. It might not be your cup of tea but we all arent as boring as you!

In Thurles? Who the hell is gonna go all the way to the arsehole of nowhere for anything this place is offering? I don't actually think there is a demand for this type of thing. Ireland already has plenty of racetracks and golf courses and Ireland's reputation as a tourist destination has taken a massive nosedive in recent years. Fewer and fewer tourists are coming year after year. This tacky development will not attract enough people (if any) and will fail in the first five years. That's my take on it anyway.

But you're right, it's a private development from the guy who owns the drugs den on O'Connell St. I hope it bankrupts him.

flanum

anybody else remember 1987 when the scratch cards and the lotto first arrived here and the church reckoned that it would be the ruination... housewives throwing housekeeping on scratchers etc... big sin!!! now look at it!!!

Dempsey

PanchoVilla wrote: »

In Thurles? Who the hell is gonna go all the way to the arsehole of nowhere for anything this place is offering? I don't actually think there is a demand for this type of thing. Ireland already has plenty of racetracks and golf courses and Ireland's reputation as a tourist destination has taken a massive nosedive in recent years. Fewer and fewer tourists are coming year after year. This tacky development will not attract enough people (if any) and will fail in the first five years. That's my take on it anyway.

But you're right, it's a private development from the guy who owns the drugs den on O'Connell St. I hope it bankrupts him.

I dont see why you are being so negative about it tbh. Sounds like you would cut off your nose to spite your face.

People go to thurles for horse & greyhound racing as it is, going 8 miles outside the town isnt going to put them off at all, world class facilities might even help draw more group 1 races and bigger crowds. Concerts (e.g. the feile) used to draw people from all over the island before the celtic tiger. People will go gambling while they are there, maybe stay and make a weekend of it.

PanchoVilla

Dempsey wrote: »

I dont see why you are being so negative about it tbh

People go to thurles for horse & greyhound racing as it is, going 8 miles outside the town isnt going to put them off at all, world class facilities might even help draw more group 1 races and bigger crowds. Concerts (e.g. the feile) used to draw people from all over the island before the celtic tiger. People will go gambling while they are there, maybe stay and make a weekend of it.

And who's going to have all this money to spend of racing, gambling, and hotels? People are leaving the country in droves, the government is saddling people with fraudulent debt, the country is about to swallow itself whole. Who the hell is gonna be throwing their money away at a casino? Oh yeah, all the bastards who made a killing during the "Celtic Tiger" and all the ones getting massive pensions for their corruption and greed. I can imagine a few people going there but it won't be to gamble or watch the races.

TerryTibbs!

This is brilliant idea and will be a big boost. People moaning about it are stupid moany fools who are clueless.

PanchoVilla

TerryTibbs! wrote: »

This is brilliant idea and will be a big boost. People moaning about it are stupid moany fools who are clueless.

What have I told you about staying up this late posting on boards? Now hurry up and get to bed, you know what you're like when you don't get enough sleep.

humanji

Dempsey wrote: »

Do you want the 3000 jobs or not?

Wait, are you fine with the idea of a TD bribing the government to change laws so that he can build his own property venture? Have you honestly learned nothing from the recession?

pickarooney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL_PXBt85rY

shawnee

Fair play to the guy who is proposing to build this Casino, racetrack etc. These are the guys who will make it , the guys who keep going while the rest are moaning about the recession and saying it won't work. Well done to Lowry for backing them and if this goes ahead , he will be in line for Taoiseach :D:D

enda1

I think the IDEA of a European Vegas is a great one.

And Ireland is particularly suited to it.

• We have the history and notoriety of being welcoming.
• We speak English.
• We have an affinity with fun, drinking, and gambling.
• We have an entrepreneurial attitude.

For this to be successful though it needs to be big - really big.
It needs to be near an airport - preferably Ryan Air operated.
It needs other activities such as golfing, horse-racing, concerts, etc. etc.
We need a choice of casinos, not one.
COMPETITION! Not one company owning everything.

Can you imagine, the casinos operating deals to bring in the tourists. Paying for flights (operated by ryan air) and offering cheap hotel rooms to stay.

The could be a real cash cow. And I would welcome it very much.

mikemac

Xiney wrote: »

curious that this should be announced just before the budget and when FF are most in need of his vote.

Conspiracy Theories forum

---

>

This was approved by the county council
And like most councils in Ireland, FG & Labour have the most seats.

We've been hearing about this project for quite a while now, it was all over the paper 8 months ago and I'm sure we had a thread here on boards too, you're reading too much into it

It's great news and now you see why Michael Lowry tops the polls every time.

PanchoVilla

feelingstressed wrote: »

Conspiracy Theories forum

---

>

This was approved by the county council
And like most councils in Ireland, FG & Labour have the most seats.

We've been hearing about this project for quite a while now, it was all over the paper 8 months ago and I'm sure we had a thread here on boards too, you're reading too much into it

It's great news and now you see why Michael Lowry tops the polls every time.

And people wonder why this country is so corrupt. :rolleyes:

Corsendonk

shawnee wrote: »

Fair play to the guy who is proposing to build this Casino, racetrack etc. These are the guys who will make it , the guys who keep going while the rest are moaning about the recession and saying it won't work. Well done to Lowry for backing them and if this goes ahead , he will be in line for Taoiseach :D:D[/QUOTE

Everyone seems to be talking about Lowry but its proposed by Dick Quirke(father of the famous Wes) ex garda who made his fortune out of poker machines and there ability to pay out rarely compared to the factory model allegedly:D

latenia

It's long been established that building a casino as a means of rejuvenating an economy has the exact opposite effect. Visitors come and go not winning or losing a huge amount but it's the local degenerates who end up being the life blood of these vultures. The jobs that are created tend to be low paid with poor working conditions while local businesses are forced to shut because of the amount of money that's removed from the community.

Take a look at what happened to the many towns in the American midwest and rust-belt who were sweet-talked into this option by the very same language Lowry is using.

mikemac

PanchoVilla wrote: »

And people wonder why this country is so corrupt. :rolleyes:

An independent TD backed it

A FG & Labour dominated council approved it

Where's the corruption?

PanchoVilla

Let's just remind ourselves of who Mr. Lowry is exactly.

A succession of controversies broke during his period of office, these included the granting of a mobile phone licence to Esat Telecom, plans for the Dublin Light Rail System and the closure of rural post offices - these culminated with accusations by Lowry of a cosy cartel operating in the public sector. At the 1997 McCracken Tribunal it was revealed that supermarket tycoon Ben Dunne had paid IR£395,000 for an extension to Lowry's home in Tipperary. This allegation prompted Lowry's resignation from the Cabinet in November 1996. When John Bruton announced that Lowry would not be allowed stand as a Fine Gael candidate at the next election he resigned from the party. The Tribunal concluded that Lowry had evaded tax.

At the following election Lowry announced that he would stand as an Independent candidate. The investigation of payments to Lowry is one of the remits of the Moriarty Tribunal which has been sitting since 1997. In early 2007, Lowry announced that he had made a full and final settlement of all outstanding payments with the Revenue Commissioners. His company Garuda had to pay up €1.2 million after a Revenue audit. He also paid almost €200,000 to settle his personal taxes.

He is backed by a strong local organisation in Tipperary known informally as "Team Lowry" which consists of 4 County Councillors in North Tipperary, 2 Town Councillors in Thurles and 1 Town Councillor in Templemore.

That's pretty much his entire wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lowry

Sure is it any wonder he got permission for this thing? He has the councillors in his pocket.

enda1

latenia wrote: »

It's long been established that building a casino as a means of rejuvenating an economy has the exact opposite effect. Visitors come and go not winning or losing a huge amount but it's the local degenerates who end up being the life blood of these vultures. The jobs that are created tend to be low paid with poor working conditions while local businesses are forced to shut because of the amount of money that's removed from the community.

Take a look at what happened to the many towns in the American midwest and rust-belt who were sweet-talked into this option by the very same language Lowry is using.

Las Vegas sprang up out of nowhere. It makes its money on tourists not locals. It makes a vast, enormous amount of money for its local and state economies.
Poor working conditions are a choice of the regulatory authorities. Ireland does not really have any poor working conditions.
Low paid jobs are better than no jobs.

PanchoVilla

feelingstressed wrote: »

An independent TD backed it

A FG & Labour dominated council approved it

Where's the corruption?

Just to drive the point home, though I already posted this.

He is backed by a strong local organisation in Tipperary known informally as "Team Lowry" which consists of 4 County Councillors in North Tipperary, 2 Town Councillors in Thurles and 1 Town Councillor in Templemore.

Yeah, not corrupt in the slightest. Michael Lowry, King of the Gombeens.

His wiki is almost entirely dedicated to his well known corruption and tax evasion. He's only an independent because FG wouldn't have him in the party anymore. He was allowed to resign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lowry

easyeason3

PanchoVilla wrote: »

Just to drive the point home, though I already posted this.



Yeah, not corrupt in the slightest. Michael Lowry, King of the Gombeens.

His wiki is almost entirely dedicated to his well known corruption and tax evasion. He's only an independent because FG wouldn't have him in the party anymore. He was allowed to resign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lowry

So because you have a major dislike/ hatred for Michael Lowry the new project shouldn't go ahead?
Call him what you like & make assumptions about that Quirkey guy all you want but this is a fantastic opportunity for the country. FFS the way things are at the moment I don't see much else happening do you?
Unless of course you consider free cheese as a step forward.

Seriously, a lot of people in this country need to get a life & stop complaining. Posts like yours make me wonder will people ever be happy.

latenia

enda1 wrote: »

Las Vegas sprang up out of nowhere. It makes its money on tourists not locals. It makes a vast, enormous amount of money for its local and state economies.
Poor working conditions are a choice of the regulatory authorities. Ireland does not really have any poor working conditions.
Low paid jobs are better than no jobs.

The number of pathological gamblers would range from a low of 19,836, based upon a doubling of the National study’s prevalence rate of 0.9% of pathological gamblers in society, to a high of 38,571 based upon Volberg’s study of Nevada which found that 3.5% of the adults were probable pathological gamblers at the current time.

http://www.casinofreepa.org/images/documents/s._nevada_beyond_limits.pdf

researchers found that residents of Las Vegas had a 50 percent higher risk of suicide than folks living elsewhere in the country

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98042717

The last thing the country needs is more of the get-rich-quick bullshit that got us into this mess in the first place.

meglome

PanchoVilla wrote: »

In Thurles? Who the hell is gonna go all the way to the arsehole of nowhere for anything this place is offering? I don't actually think there is a demand for this type of thing. Ireland already has plenty of racetracks and golf courses and Ireland's reputation as a tourist destination has taken a massive nosedive in recent years. Fewer and fewer tourists are coming year after year. This tacky development will not attract enough people (if any) and will fail in the first five years. That's my take on it anyway.

Myself and Pancho here have never agreed on anything until now. Building a casino for 15,000 people in the middle of nowhere is ridiculous. Also a development of that size in a rural area has serious implications for the environment, water, sewage etc.

Leaving aside any view on gambling generally if this was to be built it should be built elsewhere in Ireland, nearer Dublin would make sense. Or at least nearer an international airport.

enda1

latenia wrote: »

http://www.casinofreepa.org/images/documents/s._nevada_beyond_limits.pdf



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98042717

The last thing the country needs is more of the get-rich-quick bullshit that got us into this mess in the first place.

In the 30's there were 5,000 people living in Vegas, now there are 2,000,000.
This is not a natural increase only attributable to local birth rate, as you can well imagine.

Therefore people were drawn to Vegas in an effort to get rich, but also as you mention, to gamble.

If you wanna go gamble in America, a country with such opposing gambling laws, there are few places to do it in such legal comfort as Vegas.

The statistics are highly skewed by the concept of the place and by the structure of American society.

As Vegas is such a prime example of how to do it right as well as wrong, we can learn from its positives as well as negatives.

humanji

enda1 wrote: »

Las Vegas sprang up out of nowhere. It makes its money on tourists not locals. It makes a vast, enormous amount of money for its local and state economies.
Poor working conditions are a choice of the regulatory authorities. Ireland does not really have any poor working conditions.
Low paid jobs are better than no jobs.

Have you ever been to Vegas? It's not as glamourous as tv makes it out to be. Unless you're rich, all you'll see is that it's a tacky hole.

easyeason3 wrote: »

So because you have a major dislike/ hatred for Michael Lowry the new project shouldn't go ahead?
Call him what you like & make assumptions about that Quirkey guy all you want but this is a fantastic opportunity for the country. FFS the way things are at the moment I don't see much else happening do you?
Unless of course you consider free cheese as a step forward.

Seriously, a lot of people in this country need to get a life & stop complaining. Posts like yours make me wonder will people ever be happy.

It's possible it could be a good thing, but considering who's involved, the whole thing has to be investigated first to see who is gaining from it, how planning permisison was obtained, how the land was obtained, what the impact on the environment and local area will be, etc etc. This being Ireland, it's unlikely any of that will be looked into.

meglome

PanchoVilla wrote: »

And people wonder why this country is so corrupt. :rolleyes:

feelingstressed wrote: »

An independent TD backed it

A FG & Labour dominated council approved it

Where's the corruption?

I believe he thinks that all of them are corrupt.

It would be political suicide to vote against this given the supposed level of jobs being created. Still doesn't make it the right thing to do though.

enda1

humanji wrote: »

Have you ever been to Vegas? It's not as glamourous as tv makes it out to be. Unless you're rich, all you'll see is that it's a tacky hole.

Where did I mention that it was anything other than tacky?

It can't be denied that it makes a hell of an amount of money in catering to an enormous market though. And that its almost the single player in this global market.

Remember that Vegas also targets the Joe Bloggs 2 kids, wife and small house in suburbia. We have Monte Carlo for the hyper-rich, but nowhere in Europe for Mr. Bloggs. Nowhere he can feel a bit more special for a weekend.

The Brits like to gamble too, along with the French, Germans, Spanish etc. so why not give them the option a bit closer to home?

senordingdong

I've seen the plans.

It looks tacky as fcuk.
Complete with hotel modeled on the White House.

Looks like the sort of thing you would seein Dubai.