THE owner of a Co Galway hotel yesterday admitted food hygiene offences which included cooking chickens which still had the plastic bags containing the giblets inside them.
Three summonses brought by the Western Health Board alleged that two trays containing about 30 chickens were found in the hotel kitchen by an inspector on February 5th and that the plastic bags had partially melted.
Before the court was Ms Mary O'Neill, owner of O'Dea's hotel, Bride Street, Loughrea, who pleaded guilty to the offences.
The board also found that dirty linen from hotel bedrooms had to be brought through the kitchen area to the laundry and that the main kitchen area was being used for ironing bed sheets.
Ms O'Neill was also prosecuted for failing to keep walls, ceilings floors and fittings in a proper state of repair and in a clean and hygienic condition.
The health board claimed that wall tiles were missing at the hack of cookers and that the floor of the staff toilet was in a filthy condition and was littered with papers and debris. It also alleged that a staff wash hand basin was dirty and refuse bins in a back yard were encrusted with stale food spillages. It further alleged that a function room bar was filthy, with the floor sticky from drink spillages.
The owner was said to have failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent a danger to public health arising from the food business carried on in the premises and to prevent the contamination of food there.
Ms O'Neill was further alleged to have failed to provide a sufficient supply of water, soap and clean towels for use by staff preparing food.
Mr John Nash, defence solicitor, said all the matters complained of by the health board had now been rectified.
Ms Mary Costello, a health inspector, said she was now satisfied everything was in order.
Adjourning the case to May 14th, Judge O'Sullivan said he would strike out the matter on that occasion if £500 costs had been paid and a contribution made to the court poor box.