Luxurious extension planned for K Club

Smurfit and Gannon plan ballroom, pool and spa, writes Neil Callanan

Michael Smurift (above): bought the K Club and a site in Dublin with developer Gerry Gannon in June 2005 for €115m

The K-Club

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Businessman Michael Smurfit and developer Gerry Gannon are planning to develop a giant 350-seat ballroom, a hotel spa and a pool complex at the K Club in Straffan, Co Kildare.

The new building will be at the eastern wing of the hotel while all three storeys of the east wing itself will be refurbished. The existing leisure centre will be partly rebuilt.

The five-star hotel at the K Club opened in 1991 with 36 bedrooms; another 33 bedrooms were added later along with garden and courtyard suites. The origins of the building, known as Straffan House, which is a protected structure, go back to 550AD when it was granted by Strongbow to Maurice Fitzgerald. The K Club complex hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006 and is set on 550 acres beside the river Liffey.

"The new wing will be of a classical orangery fenestration," the planning application states.

A spokeswoman for the K Club did not reply to queries as to how much is being invested in the extension.

Smurfit and Gannon bought the K Club in June 2005 from what was then Jefferson Smurfit Group for €115m, a deal through which they also acquired the former Smurfit paper factory in Clonskeagh. Accounts for Bishopscourt Investments, through which the businessmen own the K Club, show it had shareholders' funds of more than €27m at the end of 2007.

Meanwhile, Fáilte Ireland is planning to try to increase the number of people coming from Britain to play golf here because golf is the highest-yield participation sport in the tourism industry and golfers are "adventurous high spenders". Three million people play golf in the UK and "Ireland needs to establish and promote its value for money offerings", Fáilte Ireland stated in tender documents circulated last week. It added that "Ireland's competitor golf destinations also see the UK as a key market, and are refocusing their efforts in this market – Ireland needs to develop a stronger presence in this market and continue to differentiate its product offering".