East/west split on tourism plan

An ambitious tourism plan for the whole of County Galway has been ridiculed by several councillors from the eastern part of the county who believe that they are forgotten in this regard.

And one councillor told a meeting of Galway County Council that in a tourism brochure, the town of Tuam has not even been mentioned as a possible destination for visitors to the county.

A presentation was made to members of the Council about Galway’s tourism potential and reference was made to the importance of the Wild Atlantic Way and the popularity of Galway city and Connemara.

But it was also stated that other parts of the county had potential as well in terms of activities like angling, walking, cycling, culture and heritage and eco-tourism.

However, many of the councillors were not pleased as they did not feel that anything was being done for the eastern part of the county with the vast majority of promotion focussed on the city and West Galway.

The first salvo came from Cllr Jimmy McClearn from Portumna who said that there seemed to be nobody assigned to get the message out to tourists “that we actually exist”.

He said that at the moment Failte Ireland seemed to be preoccupied with the Ancient East which he said from Cavan all the way down to Waterford and anything west of that did not seem to matter.

“There is absolute silence from Failte Ireland when it comes to this part of the county. They only seemed to be concerned about the Wild Atlantic Way.

Cllr McClearn said that Portumna was on the shores of Lough Derg but Failte Ireland were not promoting it as a tourist destination. “I am proposing that Galway County Council contact Failte Ireland to determine what strategy they have in place for this side of the county or are we the forgotten people”, he added.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.