Thurles Information

St. Mary's Famine Museum, Thurles. Tipperary.

The British market is by far the most important source market for visitors to the island of Ireland, accounting for over 3.5 million or over half of all International visitors to Ireland. The market profile of British visitors to the Shannon Region, shows that the ‘Over 50’s,’ market is one of the most important segments of visitor trading.

As part of the Shannon Region’s overseas marketing strategy this year, Shannon Development is actively targeting this market segment in Great Britain. Shannon Development will take a stand at the ‘Over 50’s Show,’ taking place at the Olympia London, 15th and 16th July next. They will have a stand over the course of the two days at this show, which attracts over 10,000 visitors. They will also be targeting visitors to the show with a Seniors supplement and also with a bespoke brochure, featuring heavily discounted offers from participating trade partners.

They would like to invite you to attend this show on their stand, the cost for your attendance is €150. Note: There are a limited number of spaces available, so positions will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

If you are interested in attending the show, please contact Shannon Development by close of business on Thursday, 16th June next.

The €150 cost only covers participation at the event and a feature in the bespoke brochure to be distributed at the event. You can attend on one day or both if you wish for this single cost. Each participant must cover the costs for their own hotel, food, flights and transport while in London.

Contact Details:- Tel: 353 (0)61-710268. Mail To: leydonma@shannondevelopment.ie

By the way; If you do not pay €150 you are not included on the “bespoke brochure / flier.”

This is as good as ‘Shannon Development,’ gets as far as Tipperary, east of the Shannon is concerned, perhaps this development group should be renamed, maybe ‘Shannon Self Development.’

A message now for my critics, please consider the following CASE STUDY:

Tralee Co. Kerry, fully developed as a tourist attraction, can easily afford to send a trade partner for €150 and easily cover that trade partners costs for hotel, food, flights and transport while in London. Millions of Euros in tourist promotion has been correctly spent here.

Thurles, Co. Tipperary, never developed as a tourist attraction, cannot easily afford to send a trade partner for €150 and cannot easily cover that trade partners costs for hotel, food, flights and transport while in London. By comparison, no Euros spent east of the Shannon River in tourist promotions, what a shame, what deceit. Perhaps Shannon Tourism would like to comment and disclose funding spent east of the Shannon, by comparison of course with the west bank.

Recently an application for funding of €4,000, to provide an up-to date website (Click Here.) for Co. Tipperary, was refused by Shannon Development. While they saw much merit in the proposed project, funding was refused on the grounds of (You guessed.) ” No Funding.”  The aim of the website was to provide state of the art High Definition Video (Latter with ‘free to use,‘ embedding code, which would be of huge advantage to other communities in Tipperary) together with appropriate text, and aimed at identifying, for the first time, our numerous, little-known attractions in the whole county of Tipperary. Behind this project was a group of top IT, Photographic, Media and Script professionals, all working free of charge and together, for the common good of tourism in the county. (All thanks to a small dedicated, patriotic group, with no hidden agenda, I may add.)

I am happy to announce (I sound like a TD.) that despite no financial assistance being received from any “Development Organisation,” this website is now up and running. While currently in it’s infancy, and as yet not properly structured, over the coming weeks, this site will deliver large amounts of new and exciting information to the ‘world and his mother,’ and hopefully attract at least a small amount of tourism to this beautiful, historic, welcoming, yet unknown county.

Perhaps the tourism guide book titled “Ireland : A Rough Guide,” when ‘travelling the internet,’ will find something worthy of writing about and now stop writing drivel like:- “Thurles is of very little interest in itself.” “Having seen the Rock of Cashel, most people head out of Tipperary for the west, and frankly this isn’t a bad idea – the north of the county (Tipperary) has little to distract you.” “Templemore is even less interesting than Thurles.”

Meanwhile Dublin Museums, at the gateway to Ireland, will continue to reinforce their local economies at rural Irelands’ and, in particular, Tipperary’s expense.

I ask all my recent critics the following question; “When a visitor calls to your home, do you ask them to wait at your gate or do you invite them into your home ?”  Those given responsible for Irish Tourism in Ireland, are now asking our visitors to ‘wait at the gate.’

Remember our Thurles Motto “Fleadh agus Failte.” (Translated from Irish:- “Banquet (or Party) and Welcome.”)

Anyone out there with a little spare funding and unfilled bedrooms, anxious to assist or support the cause?  You will get a return on your investment – we promise, so talk to us.

Here in Thurles we have adopted a Chinese Proverb approach, normally associated with the Third World, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”