Barry’s Amusements site sale prompts hotel speculation
One of Northern Ireland’s richest men has reportedly bought the site of Barry’s Amusements in Portrush, amid speculation a luxury seafront hotel could be built there.
Property developer Michael Herbert, who sold 146 outlets of the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise for an undisclosed sum in 2020, has been widely linked with the purchase of the 2.23-acre site, which was put on the market in November 2019.
The Trufelli family, which owned and operated the venue since 1926, had originally hoped it would be sold as a going concern but it was remarketed as a development opportunity in May 2021 and it is believed the buyer paid more than the £2.75m asking price.
A feasibility study suggested the site could be developed for several uses, including a 120-bed hotel, 23 residential dwellings or a combination of both, in addition to leisure and recreational facilities.
Mr Herbert and his wife Lesley have significant interests in house building and commercial property and the top company in their group turned over £183m in 2018, delivering a pre-tax profit of almost £10m.
‘Priced out’
SDLP MLA Cara Hunter, who is from Portrush, told the BBC she wanted to meet the new owner to discuss residents’ concerns about the potential development.
“While any investment in the area will have benefits, I understand Barry’s is a place held dear in the hearts of many in the north coast and across the entire north,” she said.
“There are also concerns around the building of more expensive apartments in this area – local people already feel they are being priced out of Portrush and I hope this too will be considered.”
Barry’s opened in Portrush in 1926, after Evelyn Chipperfield and Francesco Trufelli, members of two circus families, met in Ireland and later married.
They continued to tour Ireland together and in 1926 were invited by the Railway Company to set up a permanent site in Portrush.
According to its website, the name Barry’s was chosen because Chipperfield’s was too long and Trufelli’s too foreign, and the first delivery lorry at the site had the name Barr on it.
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