TULLAMORE is to get a 72-bedroom hotel and leisure centre at a cost of £8 million. The three-star hotel is to be developed by the Tullamore-based Flanagan Group and will include a swimming pool, gymnasium and conference facilities. Construction work is to begin in August and the complex will have parking for 300 cars. Mr John Flanagan said the absence of any "starred hotel" in Tullamore with a population of 9,500 was virtually unparalleled by any other county town in Ireland.