Fry's Model Railway in Malahide Castle to close

SeaSide

Must take the kiddies before it goes

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056164770

pinkypinky

I'm so sad to hear that! It's a fantastic model.

pinkypinky

Actually I just rang them to see when they were closing and there's a very out of date message saying they are closed for the 2010 season and will re-open on 1st April 2011. So I guess it's too late to see it at all.

Tropheus

They always close for the winter and reopen on April 1. It does sound as though they won't be opening this year.

There's also a children's toy museum there. I'm not sure if they're connected. I've never seen much activity around either of them even at the height of the summer.

There have also been a few gift shops and other buisnesses in the courtyard that have come and gone in recent years.

Clare Bear

It's always sad to see places like this close down, I brought my parents there last year and they loved it. I guess they just weren't getting the numbers to keep it open. Shame.

Corsendonk

I haven't gone in years but I have recommended it to friends that have kids over the years. It could make money if professionally managed. Anyone that watched James May Toys will have seen the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg which is ran privately by two brothers and has had 5 million visitors. If we ever hope to attract tourists back to Ireland, attractions like Fry's Model Railway will need to be maintained and upgraded for those days the sun doesn't shine.

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

Ammsy500

They need to put in a good cafe or something that brings people there its such a shame because its a lovely place and in the summer the parks always busy with people out and about. I actually live pretty near and often go for walks in the park area and I shamefully have never been to see it Its on the top of my list to go see it now..... when it reopens.

Tropheus

There is a pretty decent restaurant in the castle itself. There was talk of redeveloping some of the external buildings and adding a coffee shop, but I guess that's on the long finger for now.

Daisy!

Ammsy500 wrote: »

They need to put in a good cafe or something that brings people there its such a shame because its a lovely place and in the summer the parks always busy with people out and about. I actually live pretty near and often go for walks in the park area and I shamefully have never been to see it Its on the top of my list to go see it now..... when it reopens.

Nothing wrong with the cafe/restaurant that's there at the moment. It might not be very modern but I think it's nice and homely.

Ammsy500

Daisy! wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the cafe/restaurant that's there at the moment. It might not be very modern but I think it's nice and homely.

Oh really the last time I went was a few years ago and it was pretty bad but good to see its improved

pinkypinky

Not just the railway closing but the museum of childhood too: :eek:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/property/2011/0217/1224290016404.html

oldscoil

Sad news.

Anyhoo, have a massive attic or garage?

SeaSide

Announced that it will be moving into the casino at malahide station.

Cant find link but its on the C&T forum so it must be true

Zagato

Fantastic news alright.

Linky

Sinemo

The same person also made donations to other clubs in Malahide! When I heard the news yesterday morning, I was delighted!

However yesterday evening RTÉ reported this. Basically that Dublin Tourism said that they knew nothing of this donation, and its processing a separate deal with the selling of the model railway.

Zagato

Sinemo wrote: »

The same person also made donations to other clubs in Malahide! When I heard the news yesterday morning, I was delighted!

However yesterday evening RTÉ reported this. Basically that Dublin Tourism said that they knew nothing of this donation, and its processing a separate deal with the selling of the model railway.

Time to lobby politicians to make sure it ends up in the right place

Corsendonk

Zagato wrote: »

Time to lobby politicians to make sure it ends up in the right place

I can't help noticing the lack of representation from Fingal CC on the board of Dublin Tourism.

From Dublin Tourism Website

The composition of the Board of Dublin Tourism is as follows:
Ann Riordan, Chairperson - formerly of Microsoft, she has held senior executive positions in the computer industry since 1975. She served on the Information Society Steering Committee and the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Committee. She is currently Chairman of the National Standards Authority of Ireland and serves on the Board of The Institute of Director in Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business.
Aidan Pender - Director Strategic Development in Fáilte Ireland

Richard Bourke - Chairman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, Director of Failte Ireland and former General Manager of Jurys Hotel Ballsbridge.

Cllr Mary Freehill - Member of Dublin City Council

Paul Carty - Managing Director, Guinness Storehouse
Martin Cassidy - Chairman of the Dublin Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation and General Manager of Cassidy's Hotel
Cllr Gearoid O'Keefe - member of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
Jane Magnier - Joint Managing Director and Shareholder in Abbey Tours
Cllr Declan Flanagan - Member of Dublin City Council

John Tierney - City Manger for Dublin City Council, ex- Officio
John Travers - Chairman of Tourism Industry Forum

SeaSide

From the transport forum

A Chara

I am writing to you to give you an update on the situation with the Fry Model Railway and Casino House in Malahide. You may have seen recent media reports or heard the piece on Liveline on RTE yesterday. Just to be clear, it is true that the late Micheal Gaffney (RIP) has offered a substantial contribution of €1.5 Million to purchase and refurbish the Casino and grounds so as to accommodate the Fry Model Railway, which moved from Malahide Castle over 18 months ago.

Unfortunately, Micheal passed away a number of weeks ago, but he has left the money in trust for this purpose. A group of Malahide Residents have already negotiated with NAMA and agreed a purchase price of €600,000 for the Casino. The remainder of the money would be used to house the railway and develop a coffee shop.

The major sticking point has been that Dublin Tourism in their wisdom have agreed with a proposal from Bus Eireann for them to locate the Fry Model Railway in the Bus Aras Complex, where they plan to spend nearly €1 Million in upgrading the Eblana Theatre to house the Fry Model Railway. No, this is not a joke!!

Time is running out for this project. Micheal's contribution for this project is conditional on the Fry Model Railway moving to the Casino. Not only could we bring the Fry Model Railway home but we would also be able to secure for the people of Malahide the iconic Casino building. We will all be aware of what happened in Belcamp House. I do not want to see this happening with the Casino.

My colleague Senator Darragh O'Brien, spoke face to face with Minister Leo Varadakar in relation to this on 3rd February. He and his department are well aware that we may lose this golden opportunity. We have heard nothing back since, that is why we and other residents of Malahide raised this issue on Joe Duffy's Liveline yesterday (full audio is available on Darragh's Facebook page).

We need the Minister to intervene now on this issue. We need his government colleagues in Dublin North to lobby him on this matter. It is crazy to think that a bus company, Bus Eireann, will spend €1 Million on Bus Aras to house the largest model train collection in Ireland, while the Department turn down a generous offer of €1.5 Million, which will return the model railway to Malahide (beside our train station), protect the Casino and indeed create jobs, with no Government financial support needed.

I and my colleague, Senator Darragh O'Brien will continue to campaign on this matter. I would ask you to make contact with the Minister and the government TD's in Dublin North to persuade the Minister to intervene.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Darragh at any stage.

Kind Regards
Eoghan
--
Cllr Eoghan O'Brien,

golfwallah

Returning the Fry model railway to Malahide, preserving the Casino and creating jobs locally, all at no cost to the taxpayer - sounds to me like a "no brainer".

Why should a subsidised entity, Bus Eireann, be allowed spend €1M on Bus Aras to house this model train collection, while the Department turn down a generous offer of €1.5M from a local resident (the late Michael Gaffney) to return it to Malahide, with no Government financial support needed.

Don’t know all the ins and outs on this issue but, to my mind, Government should be setting the scene by encouraging self-help and discouraging reliance on subsidies.

Let’s hope common sense prevails this time.

golfwallah

Delighted to see that the Fry Model Railway is set to be located at a new tourism centre at the Casino in Malahide.

Congratulations to local politicians Alan Farrell, Anthony Lavin, Eoghan O'Brien and any others involved for all their successful hard work towards making this happen.:)

cathy01

Thats great news

MugMugs

Excellent! Over the moon to read this. Well done to all involved.

SeaSide

This is once again being discussed on the Transport Forum.

It (looks to be) off again