WHEELIE GOOD IDEA: A screenshot Marcus Treacy cycling through his empty hotel which has gone viral online.

By Sean Moriarty

It was a 'wheelie' great idea in terms of publicity - as well as having some fun - as one local hotelier who decided to make use of his empty hotel has gone viral online.

Cyclist Marcus Treacy, the current County Time Trial League cycling champion, owns and runs the popular Killarney Park Hotel on East Avenue which is currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

However, as Marcus visits his hotel at least once a day to make sure everything is in order, he decided to have some fun!

With help from his nephew Teddy, who is son of Ciara Treacy who runs the Ross Hotel across the street, while the hotel was empty he video-recorded himself doing his daily check while cycling one of his cross-country bikes through the premises.

Along to music of Bjork's 'It's oh so Quiet', he can be seen descending the hotel’s stairs, pulling wheelies in the lobby and racing through the dining room and restaurant - areas that would normally be thronged with guests - before exiting through the front door.

“It was all a bit of fun,” he told the Killarney Advertiser. “A hotel is a 24/7 business and you would never get the chance to do something like this. Like every business in these times, we are trying to keep our brand alive. The media is full of depressing stories these days so we decided to do something different.”

The video, which he posted on the hotel’s social media sites, has reached over 50,000 people in total so far.