THE historic red brick Gallions building in east London will reopen this morning after a long period of dereliction and closure.
The property, which now acts as the head office of Irish-owned Corbyn Construction limited and houses a restaurant and gym, will be officially opened by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD in front of a crowd of invited guests – including local business owners, Royal Dock stakeholders, the Mayor of London, English Heritage, Newham Council and the Mayor of Newham.
Established in 1989 by Michael Cusack, Corbyn Construction Ltd is now jointly owned and managed by Michael Cusack and James Molloy, who have restore the Grade 2 listed building to its former glory.
Designed by Vigers & Wagstaffe and built between 1881 and 1883 for P&O, the Gallions Hotel served passengers waiting to embark on the liners berthed in the Royal Albert Dock.
It closed in 1972 and has remained empty since.
The hotel was once a Truman’s Brewery pub and bore the nickname the 'Captain's Brothel'. The Gallions also featured in Rudyard Kipling's The Light That Failed, in the line “Is it Tilbury and a tender, or Gallions and the docks?”
Following the relaunch of the Gallions, the Taoiseach will attend a service to commemorate Irish inventor Louis Brennan at St Mary's Cemetery in Kensal Green before meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street later this afternoon.
Mr Kenny will then address the annual CHAMP event, being held this evening at Westminster in association with Tourism Ireland.
CHAMP is a non-profit organisation, which aims to strengthen the peace process in the North of Ireland
