Galway Advertiser 2010/GA_2010_01_28/GA_2801_E1_010.pdf 

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10 N E W S

www.advertiser.ie

January 28 2010

Monday hearing for dismissal case of well known Galway-native hotelier
A well known Galway hotel manager is due back in the High Court on Monday to contest his dismissal from a Dublin hotel on Christmas Eve. John Glynn, the former general manager of Citywest Hotel, is challenging his dismissal from the 250,000 a year post. At a High Court hearing on Monday Mr Justice Roderick Murphy gave Mr Glynn's lawyers leave to serve short notice on HSS Ltd, trading as Citywest Hotel, of their intention to seek an injunction stopping his purported dismissal. Mr Glynn has claimed that Sean Whelan, chief executive of the Jim Mansfield group which owns the hotel, was at the centre of efforts to undermine him for some months prior to his dismissal. In an affidavit, Mr Glynn said Mr Whelan had made a "baseless" complaint related to traffic management for the recent Disney on Ice event so to immediately dismiss him on Christmas Eve. He claims he was not afforded fair procedures and is the victim of a "concerted action" to remove him for reasons of which he is not even sure. Mr Glynn became general manager of Citywest in 1998 and remained there until 2005 when he left to become manager of the Clayton Hotel in Galway, in which he also invested. He said Jim Mansfield and his wife Anne had in August 2008 persuaded him to return as general manager of Citywest. In March last year, Mr Mansfield's son, Jimmy Mansfield, told him Sean Whelan might become a temporary financial consultant to the Mansfield group but would have no input into the day-to-day running of the hotel. The fact Mr Whelan was a "social acquaintance" of Jimmy had a significant bearing on his appointment, Mr Glynn believed. Mr Whelan set up an office in a room in Citywest and by May had said he had been appointed chief executive of the Mansfield Group by Jim Mansfield. Mr Glynn said Mr Whelan had a "disruptive effect" on the hotel business and had moved personnel without reference to Mr Glynn. In July, Mr Whelan cut Mr Glynn's salary by 100,000 but this was temporarily restored following the intervention of Jim Mansfield senior, Mr Glynn said. The salary was cut again to 150,000 in October when Mr Glynn went into hospital, but when he returned to work in November he was told he would receive payment due and got it. He said a dispute between himself and Mr Whelan relating to traffic management issues at Disney on Ice arose before Christmas and Mr Whelan wrote accusing him of acting unprofessionally and demanded an apology. Mr Glynn said he discussed the letter with his management team who agreed it was uncalled for. Mr Glynn tore up the letter and returned it to Mr Whelan in that condition in "a moment of weakness". Jim Mansfield later informed him Mr Whelan was taking legal advice over the letter incident. Three days later, Mr Whelan told him it was agreed he would be immediately dismissed. Mr Whelan had offered him an alternative job on December 28 as consultant to the hotel on a salary of 50,000 plus 13 per cent of net profit, but Mr Glynn rejected that. The case is due before the High Court again on Monday.

Galway native John Glynn

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Valerie Osborne of Elysium Day Spa & Laser Clinic Moycullen and her team of Laura Gibbons, Ciara Molloy and Lorraine Walsh receives the Yon-Ka Day Spa of The Year Award. Also in the photo are Edel O'Reilly and Melissa Evans of Yon-Ka. Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy

Healy Eames hails handover of Maree water scheme
Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has welcomed the Galway County Council's taking in charge of the Maree Group Water Scheme. The local authority has already upgraded the scheme, a move which Sen Healy Eames said has saved householders in the area some 2,000. "In Maree we are very fortunate that this scheme was upgraded over the last two years," she said. "This was a slow, tedious job. It cost 60,000 alone to identify the leaks in the system, with the overall scheme costing c250,000. In the event that this scheme experiences future problems, the newly installed infrastructure will enable the problem to be identified and rectified easily. This makes a major change from the problems we experienced over successive summers when there wasn't adequate water pressure for homes in areas like Prospect, Maree Hill, and the New Line. At times it was an absolute nightmare for families who struggled to cope. "I am absolutely delighted that Galway County Council responded so effectively to my numerous representations over time." Sen Healy Eames thanked the volunteer trustees of the group water scheme for their co-operation with the council to ensure the work was completed. The council has now taken over the scheme. "I applaud the commitment of senior engineer John Diskin who ensured funding was achieved and the work was completed," she added. "Eamon Stewart, a retired engineer from Galway County Council, was a friend to the Maree scheme, gave voluntarily of his time and expertise to assist the trustees. "As a nation we are growing more aware each day of the precious commodity water actually is. As a community we are greatly indebted to the largely invisible work of these committed individuals. It gives me great satisfaction to recognise them."

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