Tralee enjoys busiest weekend in years as Dubs arrive in droves
TRALEE enjoyed a St Patrick’s weekend cash bonanza with many businesses – particularly pubs, hotels and restaurants – reporting the busiest off season weekend in years.
While the Kerry Dublin league match in Austin Stack Park was the main reason for the bumper holiday weekend the Tralee marathon and the Ireland England rugby match added to the crowds on what proved to be a remarkably busy Saturday in the town.
Most town centre bars – which had already enjoyed a very busy St Patrick’s Day – were thronged from early on Saturday afternoon with some 6,000 Dublin fans piling in before the match.
Ahead of the game Castle Street was a riot of green, gold and blue and there was barely standing room in most town centre bars during the rugby match, which was an exciting appetiser for the evening’s main course in Stack Park.
When the Kerry Dublin game ended it most of the 12,000 fans in the stadium seemed to head down town and it wasn’t long before customers were five deep at the counter in several of the bars nearer the stadium.
On Sunday – as they took stock after a tiring but extremely profitable weekend – several publicans and bar staff said that the weekend had been one of the busiest since the hight of the boom.
Saturday was an enormous success with several bars reporting crowds – and takings – that would eclipse even the busiest nights of recent Rose festivals.
The vast majority of the Dublin fans who spoke to The
Kerryman were full of praise for the town; the friendly reception they received; the cheap prices (compared with Dublin) and the generally excellent atmosphere.
Given that reaction – and aside from the short term cash injection – the weekend should provide an invaluable long term boost to the town’s tourist industry.