Tributes to Thurles native Richard Quirke who envisaged €460m ‘super casino’ in Tipperary

Mr Quirke, the owner of Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium casinos in Dublin, died on Sunday.

Mr Quirke, of Cabinteely, Dublin, died peacefully and is mourned by his wife Ann, their children, grandchildren, sisters, extended family and friends. The funeral mass will take place on Saturday morning, October 12, at 11am in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Foxrock, followed by interment in Kilternan Cemetery Park, Kilternan, Dublin 18.

Together with Deputy Michael Lowry TD, Mr Quirke spearheaded a proposed €460m ‘supercasino’ at Two-Mile-Borris in 2009, when details of the plans were publicised at the Horse and Jockey Hotel near Thurles.

Planned to be built on an 800-acre site next to the M8 Motorway at the crossroads of Ireland, the project never came to be built as it hit numerous snags.

The initial proposed project included a two-mile horse race course, dog racing facility and equestrian venue, a 500-bed hotel and arena, a casino, golf club, heliport, and chapel, all arranged at a central plaza and sharing common facilities.

The plans included a historic reconstruction of the White House in Washington DC as it was in 1829, in a memorial to its designer, Irish architect James Hoban.

It was reported that Mr Quirke had invested at least €3.5m of his own funds on planning fees and a further €30m on purchasing lands at the site near the village of Two-Mile-Borris. Planning permission for the project was granted by the county council in 2010, but this was subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

Parts of the development, excluding the 15,000 seat arena, were granted planning permission by An Bord Pleanála following an oral hearing in 2011, but the project never get off the ground due to Ireland’s gambling legislation. In September that year, it was announced that legislation would not be introduced to facilitate the development.

Not deterred by this setback, Mr Quirke resubmitted plans for The Venue in 2012, minus the casino and indoor arena, but with an emphasis on the equestrian projects. Planning permission for this revised scheme was granted in February, 2013, subject to 12 conditions.

In October 2017, a planning application by Mr Quirke in relation to the same development, was withdrawn. However, Mr Quirke was granted an extension of duration regarding the Tipperary Venue on February 6, 2018. The expiry date was given as March 22, 2023.

Condolences have been paid to Mr Quirke’s family. One friend wrote: “My thoughts and prayers are with Wes and the Quirke family. When I worked in The Variety Club of Ireland office – a children’s charity Richard was a much valued supporter of the work we did, and his generous donations over the years made a real difference to the lives of those children we helped.”

Another said, “So sorry for your loss, I always valued my relationship with Dick, and enjoyed his company, I remember when he got me into meditation in 1987, one of the best things that ever happened to me. He was a great ambassador for the amusement industry in Ireland, and will be missed.”