Owner of hotel where teenagers died submits plans to demolish property

A planning application has been submitted to demolish a hotel where three teenagers died on St Patrick’s Day.

Lauren Bullock, 17, Morgan Barnard, 17, and 16-year-old Connor Currie died after they were crushed near the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, in an incident which witnesses described as chaotic.

A planning application from the hotel’s owner Michael McElhatton, 52, was received on Tuesday by Mid Ulster Council for the proposed demolition of the hotel and its replacement with properties and garages, located at 57 Drum Road.

There are a number of key stages in processing a planning application before it reaches a final decision, therefore the process could take a considerable amount of time.

The tragedy happened as a disco took place inside the venue.

More than 600 people had gathered outside the hotel before the crush, police said.

Mr McElhatton was questioned and later quickly cleared of drug suspicions in the initial investigation of the incident, and accused police of blackening his name.