Cllr calls for North Cork ‘passport’ to help boost tourism
WHILE North Cork has much to offer in the way of tourist attractions, more needs to be done to attract visitors to the region.
Thanks the view of Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind) who has sought the support of his fellow northern division colleagues for a novel initiative that he believes could help put the region firmly on the Irish tourist trail.
Cllr O’Shea has called for the creation of a ‘passport’ as a way of promoting towns and villages across the area to visitors.
“I came across the idea on a visit to Skibbereen during my time as county mayor. It worked very well there and I see no reason why it could not be done in North Cork,” said Cllr O’Shea.
“There are many top class historical, cultural and sporting attractions across the region and I feel that we should do all we can to highlight these to visitors. I am confident that with the support of the divisional manager both the Kanturk/ Mallow and Fermoy districts could work together to create this passport as part of the councils overall tourism strategy,” he added.
The idea was given broad support by councillors, with Timmy Collins (Ind) saying there were numerous local visitor attractions that never get publicised.
“It would be fair to say that North Cork is starved of tourism and this would be a great way to address that. Quite often it is the case that visitors arrive in Ireland and head straight to Killarney, completely bypassing North Cork,” he said.
“We have plenty to show off and must do all we can to sell the region both at home and abroad,” said Cllr Collins.
There was one note of caution from Cllr Kay Dawson (FG), who said that while the idea was a good one in theory the council should not “try to reinvent the wheel” by mirroring other existing initiatives.
A point also made by Northern Division manager James Fogarty, who said the council would be very supportive of the initiative.
“We have attractions across a range of themes in North Cork that are second to none and while Failte Ireland is developing a strategy for Cork, there is nothing stopping us promoting something that will compliment that,” he said.