Guth & Tuairim, Lúnasa/Meán Fómhair 1981

IML, 3 UIMH 5 LUNASA/MEAN FOMHAIR 1981 LUACH 25P TOURIS ---------------------- · ~ lot @! people ·are crying out loud and feeling really sorr,y tor themselves this Summer because of the bad tourist sea8on~ Various examples have been put forward, _e.g. the bad weather; scarcity ot money because ot infiation, unemployment, etc. What nobody seems to admit is that we have been sitting on our backsides tor so long and have done nothing to attract the visitors to our area. What had the Rosses, Gaoth Dobhair and Cloich Cheann P'haola on otter this Summer? Lovely beaches and scenery, mountains, lakes, etc but very tw facilities while entertainment was very thin on the ground. When mother-nature decided to be awkard and the sun stayed a~ tor weeks on end, our lovely sandy beaches were soon deserted. So what did Mr. & Mrs Tourist and family do with themselves. They stayed in the hotels and the guesthouses and looked out at the mist and the rain. They JllliSt ' have felt sorr,r they came here~ and it' 11 take a miracle to get them back. Lets race it - apart trom the "Mar:r from Dungloe" Festival which ran tor a week, and half-hearted attempts' in F&l.carrach and Burtonport there was very little happening all Summer except for scattered events here and there. Take an area like Gaoth Dobhair, with it's huge population and many fine hotels and guesthouses. What entertainment was on offer for the visitor? A few sing-songs at night in the pubs, plenty of drink, a tw more songs, more drink and head for home. The place had as much excitement as an Esk:iJno village in Winter1 Before next year we should sit down and draw up a serious plan (with the help of Bord Failte) to promote tourism in the area, to make use of the facilities we have and to provide more and better facilities. Certainly, if they had the wealth of natural resourees that we have anywhere else they would have turned it into a goldmine long before now. F&lcarrach G.A.A. team in the 5U's. A .BAD YEAR rn••nnuuunn•nnnn•nnuuunn•nnn•niiuuuunn•nnnlnnnnl '·~.i',, .. 1 Miss Nora Galligan, the 1981 1 Mary from Dungloe'' Nrary from· Dungloe IIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrlllllllllllllllllllllll 1870 5~0t000.6.1R 1881 Brian Anson, Architect, Urban Planner, Author, Illustrator and Teacher, who wa~ born in Bootle, Liverpool, prepftpared a JJOCio-environmental plan for this area for Gaeltarra Eireann in 1970. Since then there have been many changes in Gaoth Dobhair and it's surrounding parishes - for better or for worse. He warned Gaeltarra in his 1970 report about the things that could go wrong, but unfortunately his advice and his findings were largely igr}Pred. · Now he is back, working for Udaras na Gaeltachta as a consultant. What has he found after 11 years of industrial expansion and population explosion? Where are we heading and what mistakes are we making? Brian Anson is an expert who has worked for many years with communities in Britain and we vould do well to listen to what he has to say. He'll be in the area from 20th September, so if he has a meeting in your locality do go along~ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII,uuunnllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ll