Green light for new Cafe and Gym in Portlaoise

Laois County Council has given the green light for a new Gym and Cafe in the centre of Portlaoise. 

Plans to transform a former Portlaoise bookshop into a three storey Cafe and Gym were approved subject to ten conditions. 

John Watchorne lodged an application with Laois County Council for the change of use at the former bookshop on Bull Lane in Portlaoise last Month. 

He was seeking a “change of use from retail (bookshop) to cafe on section of ground floor with gym changing rooms, toilet and shower facilities, gym use to 1st and 2nd floor to include internal changes and associated site works.”

The Watchorne family own the nearby Jeremiah Grant Bar and Eatery in Portlaoise and also own a pub, supermarket and Gym in Mountmellick. 

The plans were approved this week subject to ten conditions. The move will bring the old bookstore building, which has been vacant for some time, back into use again. The centrally located building used to house Laois Education Supplies and after that Easons, both of which were run by the late John McNamee and his wife Betty. 

Mr McNamee was a great advocate for reading and had a passion for books. He was President of the European Booksellers Federation from 2005 to 2014, the first Irish person to hold the post. He died in January 2015 at the age of 59.  

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Approval of the planning application should now paves the way for the development of the new Gym and Cafe.