Grant helping to promote Wicklow
FILM star Richard E Grant has been in County Wicklow to help with a new promotion to showcase the county and Ireland’s Ancient East to British holidaymakers.
The actor has been working with Tourism Ireland and Smooth Radio to produce a series of short online films in which viewers will see him immerse himself in our culture, meet the locals and try some of the wonderful experiences on offer here.
Filming took place last Wednesday at Wicklow Gaol and Powerscourt House. Tourism Ireland worked closely with Fáilte Ireland, to agree the locations to feature in each film.
The campaign – which is being rolled out in two phases – will reach about 5.5 million people across Britain. The films will be promoted on the Smooth Radio website and through onair mentions. They will also be shared via social media – targeting Tourism Ireland’s audience on Facebook (almost 443,000 fans in Britain alone) and Twitter (almost 70,000 followers).
Richard E Grant has been described as a great fit for the campaign and its key audience of ‘culturally curious’ holidaymakers. His appearances in films and TV series like Withnail and I, Downton Abbey and Hotel Secrets have cemented his popularity and made him one of the best-known faces on British television.
‘Our newest promotion has been specifically designed to highlight holidays and short breaks in Wicklow and Ireland’s Ancient East to our “culturally curious” audience in Great Britain,’ said Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s Deputy Head of Great Britain.
‘We are really excited to be working with Richard E Grant, as he is a great fit with this important demographic.’ SCHOOL pupils in Carnew have been commended for their excellent efforts at battery recycling.
WEEE Ireland, which is the country’s biggest recycling scheme for batteries, has given Wicklow residents and pupils in Carnew NS in Carnew an ‘AA grade’ for recycling 10,264kg of batteries in the past year. The students alone managed to recycle 80kg.
The news comes ahead of a final push to reach the EU target of recycling 45 per cent of all batteries sold in Ireland by the end of 2016. WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan has called on everyone in Wicklow to recycle as many batteries as possible ahead of the deadline at the end of the year.
‘I am especially proud of the great recycling work that residents of Wicklow have done as well as the efforts of pupils in Carnew National School as part of the WEEE Pledge Programme. They are setting a very high standard for other schools to follow.
‘WEEE Pledge has broadened students’ recycling activity and is inspiring the next generation to be ‘guardians of our planet’. Students (and their families) learn about the importance of being responsible for the environment and how to make a difference in each community,’ Mr Donovan said.