Fáilte Ireland insist Louth will be promoted as part of Ireland’s Ancient East tourism initiative

Fáilte Ireland have issued a press release today highlighting the attractions of County Louth as a tourist destination.

It comes after the body omitted the county from their new Ireland’s Ancient East tourism initiative, which was launched yesterday with the aim of bringing 600,000 more visitors here.

The initial press release, maps and videos omitted the Wee County from inclusion, saying the new initiative – which is hoped will rival the Wild Atlantic Way – started in the Boyne Valley and ended in Cork.

Fáilte Ireland were forced into an embarrassing apology earlier today when Gary Breen spoke at a Cross Border Tourism Conference in Dundalk.

They now say that “Ireland’s Ancient East is geared to maximise the history and heritage in Louth and bring it to greater international attention by offering visitors a personal experience of 5000 years of history through a relaxing journey of discovery in the beautiful landscape that attracted warring settlers for millennia.

“The key to the initiative’s success in the county will be how the local history is illuminated by local people, communities and tourism stakeholders. To that end, Fáilte Ireland will be meeting and working with local interested parties over the coming months to enlist their support and expertise to bring the project to life locally.”

Speaking today, Paul Keeley, Director of Business Development with Fáilte Ireland, said:

“With the great amount of history and heritage in the North East, ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ will allow us to seriously build on the assets we have in Louth and encourage visitors not only to visit but to stay longer.

“With attractions such as Mellifont Abbey, Carlingford’s Medieval town, Drogheda’s Cromwellian history, Cúchulainn’s Stone, Monasterboice and Castle Roche – to name but a few – Louth ticks all the boxes with regard to the main themes of Ireland’s Ancient East with ancient, early Christian, Medieval and Anglo-Irish sites all within reach.

“As with the Wild Atlantic Way, this will be an evolving project and, although the brand has now been launched, the hard work now begins. To that end, over the next few weeks and months, Fáilte Ireland will be meeting with tourism operators, local community groups and other interested parties in Louth to work with them and to bring Ireland’s Ancient East alive in this part of the region”.

Mr Keeley added: “Ireland’s Ancient East was very much to the fore in talks with overseas operators yesterday and they are very enthusiastic about selling the new proposition to their customers. I appreciate that there were some concerns that Louth did not seem to feature heavily on the illustrative map at yesterday’s launch but I can assure all our stakeholders in the county that we will be doing all we can to ensure that Louth is on every visitor’s itinerary as we roll out this project overseas.”

Fitzpatrick claims Louth will be included in Ireland’s Ancient East tourism initiative

The map for the Ireland’s Ancient East tourism initiative, which stopped short of Louth

Local TD Peter Fitzpatrick has claimed that he has received assurances from Fáilte Ireland that County Louth will be included in the new ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ tourism initiative.

The new promotion was launched yesterday with its intention to promote the east and south in a similar manner to the Wild Atlantic Way, with the hope being that it will bring an extra 600,000 visitors here a year.

Local tourism bodies, businesses and politicians reacted angrily, however, after Louth – dubbed the Land of Legends – was left out of the picture with Fáilte Ireland’s promotional material claiming that the “cultural and heritage trail will stretch from the Boyne Valley in the northeast, through the midlands, Kilkenny, Waterford and end in Cork.”

The Battle of the Boyne site outside Drogheda was as far north as the initiative went on an illustrative map done up for promotional material, thus omitting other prominent local tourist attractions such as Cuchulainn’s Castle and the Táin area in Cooley and Carlingford.

Commenting via his Twitter page yesterday, Cllr Mark Dearey said it was “extraordinary and frustrating that the Cuchulainn story cycle” didn’t feature in the campaign.

Cllr Declan Breathnach also demanded answers as to why Louth, in particular the north of the county, was excluded. It was also questioned by Paddy Malone of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, who said they were “not impressed” by the omission.

The Visit Carlingford tourism group were another to express their disappointment via Facebook.

They said: “How can North Louth be left out of this with the history we have, ancient land of Cu Chulainn and the place where the last High King was crowned and based (Edward de Bruce) could be ignored, snubbed by Failte Ireland. VERY Disappointing.”

However, Deputy Fitzpatrick, having spoken to Fáilte Ireland’s Gary Breen at a Cross Border Tourism Conference in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk today, said he had received a commitment this morning that Louth will be included in the Ancient East initiative.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Breen issued an apology over the debacle, saying: “Apologies on behalf of Fáilte Ireland. It was not our intention to exclude any part of Ireland’s rich heritage, least of all Louth’s. It is regrettable that we scored a PR own goal in Louth yesterday.”

With much of the promotional material already printed and the promo video already made, it remains to be seen just how Louth is included, having been previously overlooked.

From left: Local TD Peter Fitzpatrick and Dundalk Chamber of Commerce PRO Paddy Malone with Fáílte Ireland’s Gary Breen in Dundalk this morning