‘ Banks inhumane and rotten’
GLAMPING entrepreneur David McGowan has vowed to have his airport- themed Glamping village open in Enniscrone by this time next year, three times as big.
The Easkey funeral director gave a stirring presentation on his plans to Sligo County Council yesterday in which he said there was a “collective responsibility” to put Sligo on the map.”
“We need to start working together and go at that common goal. We need to all join forces to get this right,” he told members, “It’s a collective responsibility to get this town up and going.”
He was also quick to rubbish rumours he had run out of money: “There’s a lot of interest in seeing how I’ll do this. There’s a rumour out that I’ve run out of money - no. I’m just being cautious,” he said.
Mr McGowan said he was planning to crowdfund the rest of the project because the banking system here is “rotten” and “inhumane.”
“They’d throw you out on the side of the road. Yes, I have the money to finish it. I’m working on something that will put Sligo on the map. I will get there. There’ll be nothing in the world like it,” he said.
Mr McGowan spoke of his disappointment that he had not received “one phone call from Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland or the Wild Atlantic Way” about his project which has garnered so much worldwide publicity for Sligo. He has applied to have his Glamping village given ‘ flagship’ status along the Wild Atlantic Way: “I can’t see why they can’t see it as Flagship status. But I have to drive on, I can’t let that get me down. I’m not going to cry about it. I do have a plan and when I succeed it’ll be a lesson that you can get this done,” he told the meeting.
Cllr Rosaleen O’Grady said it was her understanding that the CEO of Fáilte Ireland was in Sligo yesterday and she had hoped David McGowan would be top of his list of people to meet with. “What I gather is that you’re not top of the guest list for that,” she said.
Cllr Sinead Maguire also said she was “disappointed to hear that about Fáilte Ireland and the other tourism bodies.” “You’ve proved the engineers wrong, hopefully you’ll prove the financiers wrong as well.”