Wicklow County Council is presented with Interreg plaque
SPECIALLY commissioned plaques have been presented to partners, including representatives of Wicklow County Council, who are involved in a €1.9m project aimed at encouraging visitors to explore new areas of Ireland and Wales.
Representing the Garden county at the ceremony were which took place in Wexford County Council’s offices were Michael Nicholson and Máire Halvey, from Wicklow County Council, and Mai Quaid, from Visit Wicklow.
The presentation saw six Celtic Routes partners and stakeholders receiving Interreg Project plaques by the respective Irish and Welsh Project Managers, Oonagh Messett and Rhian Philips.
The ceremony was held at a stakeholder meeting in Wexford County Council chamber on Tuesday, September 18, and the plaques were presented in recognition of the co-funded nature of the project.
Representatives of consultant firm, Bluegrass, gave a very detailed presentation based around market research carried out in relation to the project.
Speaking to this newspaper Ms Messett said the Bluegrass presentation gave a strong indication of the viability of the proposed routes.
Over two days representatives from the local authorities in Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Camarthenshire, Ceredigion and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park assessed the report and agreed on the next steps to take.
The Celtic Routes project is a co-funded European Territorial initiative that is being led by Camarthenshire County Council in Wales.
It will focus attention on the six areas involved and according to Ms Messett the overall aim is to highlight areas in the six local authority regions that haven’t yet been fully utilised.
‘The project aims to highlight hidden gems and transform less well known areas from transit zones to new touring sites,’ said Ms Messett.
‘ This will increase the time visitors spend in these regions and capitalise on the opportunities to boost local economies and add value to the combined tourism offerings,’ she added.
As part of the project further customer research initiatives will take place in addition to trade events and workshops and there will also be cross-border visits by Welsh and Irish businesses to their respective countries; the aim of those visits will be to develop ideas.
Part of the project is expected to include the development of new tourist trails combining a number of themes including: Tracing Your Roots; Pilgrim Trails; Landscape and Living Heritage; Film; Wildlife and Folklore.