‘Drive’ to attract German golfers to County Wicklow

A GROUP of leading German golf reporters were tested their skills at Druids Glen and Powerscourt Golf Clubs as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland.

The visitors – which includes journalists from a daily newspaper, regional newspapers and a golf magazine – have a combined audience of more than one million readers who are potential Wicklow golf holidaymakers.

As well as teeing off at Druids Glen and Powerscourt Golf Clubs, they also visited Glendalough Distillery and Powerscourt Distillery.

Zoë Redmond, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Central Europe, said: ‘ Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these influential golf writers to visit Wicklow and Ireland, to experience some of our top courses for themselves. Golf is the world’s largest sports-related travel market and we are working hard to drive home the message that a golfing holiday in Ireland is about much more than a round of 18 holes – the combination of our world-class courses and our unique brand of hospitality plays a key role in attracting golfers’.

Germany is the third-largest market for tourism in Ireland, with around 667,000 German visitors holidaying in Ireland last year.

COUNSELLORS and psychotherapists come across people who are often at the most vulnerable moments in their lives and it is important that when someone goes to see a counsellor or psychotherapist, they know who they are going to see and their qualifications Health Minister Simon Harris told the Seanad.

Following consultations with the health and Social Care Professionals Council (HSCPC) and a detailed public consultation on the question of regulating counsellors and psychotherapists, he said he decided last year to proceed with the designation of two distinct professions, that of counsellor and psychotherapist – each with its own register under one registration board.

These bodies are collectively known as CORU and are responsible for protecting the public by regulating health and social care professionals in Ireland, he said. ‘CORU is also charged with the promotion of high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among the registrants,’ he said.

‘The Act provides for a transitional period of two years during which existing practitioners may register on the basis of specified qualifications.

From a public protection viewpoint, a crucial milestone in the regulation of the Act’s designated professions was the introduction of the Act’s fitness to practise regime in recent years, he said. This involved the commencement of part six of the Act to allow for complaints about the conduct or competence of registrants to be investigated.

‘Where complaints are substantiated, disciplinary sanctions up to and including cancellation of registration may be imposed,’ he said. ‘The regime is similar to that applicable to medical practitioners, nurses and midwives.’.