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Thursday evening’s tourism programme ‘Failte’ with Carmel Murray. Sponsored by The Country Shop, Letterfrack. Broadcast Thursday the 10th Of October 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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Thursday evening’s tourism programme ‘Failte’ with Carmel Murray. Sponsored by The Country Shop, Letterfrack. Broadcast Thursday the 10th Of October 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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Thursday evening’s tourism programme ‘Failte’ with Carmel Murray. Sponsored by The Country Shop, Letterfrack. Broadcast Thursday the 10th Of October 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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The transcription is a radio program announcement about Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. The host introduces various guests, including Brendan Kenny, a tourism industry director, Etna Verling, the director of Galway City Museum, and Ternsow Toole, the co-chair of Connemara and the Arden Islands Tourism Network. The host then interviews Johnny Sheehan, also known as Jimmy, who owns Jimmy's famous homemade Connemara ice cream. They discuss a new indoor market in Letterfrack, where local producers can sell their goods. The market will be held on Sundays and aims to be a social gathering as well. Local producers are encouraged to inquire about participating. This program is kindly sponsored by Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, 095-418-50. This program is kindly sponsored by Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, 095-418-50. This program is kindly sponsored by Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, 095-418-50. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Today we're going to talk about everything you can buy in the shop. I'm Carmel Murray, and James is on the desk with me, as usual. And we're at 87.8, which is 6.1 FM. And we're also on the internet at www.carnemarafm.com. And if you're on the phone, if you have any questions at all, or if you have any questions at all, it's either 416.6. I hope you enjoy this episode of Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and I'll see you again soon. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop, and welcome to Lettuce Wrap Country Shop. Brendan Kenny is a Director of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, and he's also the CEO of Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism. Then I've Etna Verling, who's the Director of the Galway City Museum, and they have a very full program planned there for the up and coming winter. And lastly, I have Ternsow Toole, who is the Co-Chair of Connemara and the Arden Islands Tourism Network, and he'll bring us up to give us an update on everything. He's also the owner of Love Connemara Cottages. So that's my program for today. I hope you'll be able to stay with us and enjoy some, at least, of our interviews. But joining me right away on the line is Mr. Johnny Sheehan. Johnny, good evening, Johnny, and you're very welcome to the Tourism Program. Good afternoon, Carmel. It's good to hear you. I was listening to your lovely introduction there, and my sympathies go out to anybody in Florida and Tampa, and it makes me realize, putting things into perspective, how lucky we are to be living in beautiful Connemara. That's so true. I'll never give out about a shower of rain again. I know, and that's the truth. You know, we're terrible. We're such a body of complainers, like if we get a heavy fall or a bit of what we call a terrible storm. Well, I'm a firm believer, Carmel. I hope you are too. Always see the glass half full, and when you see other catastrophes around the world, we should realize how lucky we are. Yeah, to be in a temperate climate. Absolutely, absolutely. As we learned in school, Johnny, tse tseirum sa sawro agus bog boarste sa gibru. That was what we're told. Indeed. Yeah, that was all I remember about our geography lesson for the weather. That's what it was. But now, Johnny, Johnny Sheehan, we know you as another name. You have another brand name. Would you like to tell us what that is? I have, and good afternoon to your many, many listeners around Letterfrack and Tully and all of these around Connemara. I have become, I started out life as Johnny, Johnny Sheehan. But in the last 10 years or thereabouts since we've started our business, people call me Jimmy because we have Jimmy's famous homemade Connemara ice cream. Yeah, that's right. That we make with Connemara seaweed. And indeed, we will be there in Ellis Hall on Sunday with our goods, both ice cream, and indeed, we also do a lovely, delicious range of baked products. Oh, very good. So we should be there. This is a new thing, which we're quite excited about in Letterfrack. And you were saying the season is winding down, Carmel. To my mind, it's only starting. Well, the season for us is starting. And the market, the indoor market will keep it going because we intend having it as a permanent fixture. Brilliant. Where will it be? Where will it be, Johnny? Sorry? Where will the market be? It'll be in Ellis Hall right beside you, down at Connemara West. Good, in Letterfrack. In Letterfrack. We didn't say where, and everybody knows you from Roundstone and from... Absolutely. In Ellis Hall, right beside your famous radio station there, and having it on a Sunday. We're having it on a Sunday at the moment. You can tell all your listeners that there'll be plenty of parking available on Sunday. That's the good thing about here, yeah. That's the beauty of it, yes. So whose brainchild is this? Well, there's quite a few of us still at the Roundstone market, as people would know, during the summer. And a chap called Martin Nally, which does gorgeous prints. He has a drone and he takes beautiful prints of all around Connemara. And one day we were chatting away in Roundstone at the market, and he lives around my yard there, Martin. And also a colleague of his, Damien. So between Martin and Damien, to sort of put it around to other stallholders, would they be interested in having a market in Letterfrack? Yeah. Because to my knowledge, I don't think there's ever been a market as such, a permanent sort of market in Letterfrack. Well, there wouldn't have been a permanent one, but they do have sales there. No, no, no. Just the odd one, yes. Oh, absolutely. Letterfrack in particular, I love going through Letterfrack, because there's always a buzz in it. There's a great community spirit in the whole lot. That's for sure. And I know there's always fundraisers going on between Renville Rescue Centre and everybody else and Sea Week. But to have a permanent market on a weekly basis, I think, might be a good thing. Well, anybody I've spoken to around the Letterfrack area in Tully thinks it's a great idea and quite excited about it. And we have a full range of stalls between foodstuffs with myself and arts and crafts and paintings and knitwear and prints and jewellery and pottery and you name it. Great. So there's quite a selection for people to peruse around. Great. And how does it work, Johnny? I mean, for example, do you book a stall or a table or what? Does a supplier or one who wants to participate in it, how do they do it? Well, obviously, we go to Forman Connemara West and we book the haul out. And then all our stalls are going to be regular. So we have some counted out and we'll have about 15, 16 stalls and they'll have their spot in the haul every week. Yeah. And we're also, as well as having a market, which I hope will be successful, I'm sure it will. We also want to make it for the locals and visitors a more of a social thing. So we're going to have complimentary teas and coffees on arrival and some biscuits and nibbles and whatever. And people can sit around and chat with their, especially in the wintertime. Yeah. Get people out and sit around and have a chat with their neighbours and friends. Yeah. So is it open to suppliers from all the area? Are you limiting it or, you know, how does one know? Well, we're quite interested in anybody that inquires about, especially local producers, because most of the stalls we have at the moment produce all their own goods, whether it's ourselves with our ice cream and our baked goods or jewellery, pottery. They're all locally produced by the stallholders themselves. But, you know, we love to involve local people as well. Yeah. If anybody is interested, they can speak to us on Sunday. And if we have room, we don't want to double up because it's kind of a small haul. We don't want to double up on any stalls and such. We try to keep one of everything, if you know what I mean. But by all means, if there's local people that produce goods, whatever it may be, they can come to myself or Martin or Damien on Sunday and we'll take their details. And if there's room for them, they're more than welcome. I'm just thinking, you know, it's all fresh food. I'm just thinking of people who are producing, you know, like the oysters and the fish. You know, it would be lovely to have, you know, fresh fish stalls. Oh, absolutely. Is it open to them? No, no, we want, of course, Carmela, we want the variation of products. So by all means, if there are any local people, because we want to involve the people in Lethofrack and Tully and whatever in this. Yeah. Hence the complimentary teas and coffees and they can come out of a social thing and chat around. So we love to be there for the team. If there's any local producers of foodstuffs or art and crafts, we're quite open to suggestions in a sense. If they'd like to come along on Sunday and we can take their details. Right. And if there's room, we can certainly fit them in. And how many days will it be running for? I mean, each week, is it just one day or what? It's just one day. At the moment, Carmela, it'll be on on a Sunday. Right. And then hopefully in the new year and coming into springtime, we're hoping to have it maybe on the Saturday if the hall is available. Yeah. But we have to confirm those dates. Of course, yeah, yeah. And even to go further, in the springtime when the weather gets fine again, even though the weather is glorious at the moment, one would be forgiven for thinking it's summertime, we're hoping maybe to move it outdoors. Yeah, and maybe even if you get the two-day Saturday and Sunday or whatever, you know, make it a kind of a weekend festival of food or whatever. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, it'd be brilliant. So what time? Like it's in its infancy at the moment, and obviously Sunday is our first day and our launch day. You know, so we'll, I'm sure, come up with ideas of whether to have it one day, two days, what day. Yeah, and the public will be very quickly to give you their opinions on time. Well, it's the public that matters. Yeah, exactly. It's the public that are, the customers are the most important people going. Yeah. Whether what business you're in. And we take advice and ideas and opinions from them. Yeah. And what time, what time, what time would it be open, Jimmy? It's on from, it's on from 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock Sunday, this Sunday coming in Ellis Hall. Sunday the 13th of October. Sunday the 13th. And a contact number, please, or a website or what? Well, we don't have any websites set up really. Okay. What a number. But my contact number is 087- 087- 25- 25- 666- 666- for the devil, please 6 is for the devil, 70. 70. Did somebody christen you that? I should have it marked on my head, Karen. The devil Johnny, Jimmy or whatever. Okay. Johnny, Jimmy as people call me. 087- 25- 666- 666- 7-0. That's the one, Karen. That's the one. Well, it's been lovely talking to you, Johnny. Thank you and likewise. And thank you for all your good work here. You're great in Connemara and radio for supporting local projects and enterprise and whatever. That's the whole ethos. We do appreciate it. That's the whole ethos of the radio is support local and hopefully it works. Thank you so much indeed for joining me today on the tourism program. Good to talk to you, Karen. We hope to see people in their droves on Sunday. On Sunday. Thank you for talking to us. All right, Karen. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye. New radio broadcasting on 87.8 and 106.1 FM. You can also listen in to us from outside of the Connemara area on our website, www.connemarafm.com. Good morning to you and hope all is good with you on the lovely island this Sunday morning. Good evening and welcome to Connemara Community Radio. Coming to you from the English Passenger Studio. And if you just joined us, welcome to Connemara Community Radio broadcasting on 87.8 and 106.1 FM. Yeah, Lee Dorsey followed by Captain Beefheart. Where else would you get us, Connemara Community Radio? 09541616, if you'd like a song played. You're welcome to me. I'm broadcasting live from the isle of Inyspigo. That was a great tune by Fairport Convention. And I come all a bit of Kayleigh going on there and have you dancing around the kitchen. Hello everyone, hope you're doing well. You're listening to Connemara Community Radio. Hey, what's that actually mean? We're playing to our folk figures at the same place, which I'm sure you'll know how to say something. Well, there was a time. We have to defend our genes tonight. You can also listen in to us from outside of the Connemara area on our website, www.connemarafm.com. Hope you're all well. So that's it for tonight. I'd like to thank you all for listening and hope that you'll tune in again next week. Connemara Community Radio, thank you very much for listening. And I hope you'll enjoy tonight's show. Thank you. You're welcome back, folks. Now, I'm joined now on the line by Mr. Brendan Kenny. And Brendan is the director on the board of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation. But he's also the CEO of Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism. Good evening, Brendan, and you're very welcome to the tourism program. Good evening, Carmel, and thanks very much for having me. I appreciate the invite. It's very good to have you. We were looking for you two weeks ago, but we're glad to have you any time. It's good of you to come back to us. Oh, it's good to see you again, Carmel. Yeah. Now, first of all, we'll just talk first about the ISIC conference, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation. You had your conference there two weeks ago. Just a little bit about it. Like, was it well attended? And what came out of it? Yeah, absolutely, Carmel. It's always a massive milestone event in the tourism calendar. And it was – I think we had over 400 delegates this year, which is probably a record high for us again. A really fantastic mix of content and of guest speakers. We had John Sopel, the British journalist and broadcaster, talking about international geopolitics. We had John Concanon. You might know him from his time here in Galway. Yeah, he spent his time with us, yeah, didn't he? With Ireland West and, indeed, with us in Connemara Tourism as well. Absolutely, yeah. A Sligo man, but we'll claim him as Galway anyway. Oh, God, he's Galway to us. Yeah. We'll mine Sligo. So, he was talking about it from a Global Ireland perspective and, obviously, had his role coming in as Ambassador to Canada. We had Minister Catherine Martin. We had a panel of industry leaders. We had the tech broadcaster, Jess Kelly, talking about AI and the future for tourism with that. And, of course, then we also had a good discussion on the Dublin Airport cap. So, a really good mix of content and a fantastic day in Dublin. Now, what was said about the non-reduction of the VAT for the hospitality sector? Did any sort of resolution or any kind of, what do you say, you know, proposal come from there to go to the government about them not reducing it, which I think everybody is so disappointed in, in the budget? Well, look, the conference took place just before the budget and, unfortunately, we were extremely disappointed from a tourism and hospitality perspective to see that the VAT wasn't restored to 9%. I mean, as you well know, it's absolutely vital that we get that VAT back down for the life of Connemara. Yeah. You know, I mean, the asks from an issue perspective were to see the VAT come down on capacity issues being addressed and increasing the tourism budget. But from the VAT perspective, I mean, for a low-margin sector, we're really struggling with a lot of headwinds at the moment. So, for the VAT not to be addressed and for us now to be back at one of the highest, I think it's the second highest in Europe, is really, really disappointing. So, it's extremely disappointing, but we'll do the new government on the horizon, so we'll see what comes in the future. Oh, really? Yeah. I'd said to be more of the same myself, but still, we don't know. Well, we have to, yeah, look, we have to look at it as a clean slate in the future again and we'll see what comes. Yeah. And you know something, there might be a new government with a freer hand to make those kind of decisions. You don't know. Well, you'd hope so. I mean, like one of the things we'd love to see as well across tourism is for tourism should really have its own portfolio and that hasn't been the case. Yeah. I mean, the fact that, I mean, Minister Catherine Martin has such a mixed portfolio, it doesn't help us either. No. We are the largest indigenous employer in regional Ireland. I think that seems to be forgotten by government at times. Yeah, it does indeed. Yeah, very, very much so, you know. But anyway, that's, that was iffic. So, but anyway, that's one hash. Now, where are your other hash, Brendan, as CEO of Ireland's Association for Adventure Tourism? How many people in Ireland would be employed in this sector? Sure. Okay. Well, look, we have about 8,000 employees in Ireland. Now, we're an all-island body as well. So, we're in Northern Ireland and the South. And we are the representative body for over 200 outdoor activity providers. And our members will be the likes of adventure centres, water parks and in businesses offering everything from biking, hiking, rafting, horse riding and much, much more. You'd probably be aware, of course, of the likes of Delphi Resort in Connemara, Killary's Adventure, Brownstone Outdoors, Ireland's Wild Escapes, Connemara Real Adventures and Dive Academy over in Ishmore as well. So, we have a broad wealth of offering. And what's great about the sector is that it promotes physical and mental health but also provides pathways for young people to outdoor activities in safe environments. So, it's something that we're obviously trying to grow ourselves. And it has been a growing sector over the last number of years. And as we all know, like the pressures nowadays on young people of mental health. Mental health is a big problem for lots of, you know, the younger age groups. So, anything that helps that is a bonus, isn't it, in the area? It really is. It really is. And I think, you know, compared to, let's say, when I was growing up in the 80s, there's so much more out there for young people to take advantage of. But it's just, I suppose, making them aware of it. Yeah. And we're seeking to work with schools more and give them the chance to immerse themselves in the natural environment. Because as you say, with the way social media has gone, with the way the modern world has gone, I've got two small boys here at home myself. There's so much pressure on young people today. And, you know, there's no better way to address that than getting out into the natural environment. And, you know, I think the schools play a huge part nowadays. And we'd have to praise them for it because they are encouraging all of their students to get up and get out and do something, aren't they? They really are. They really are. And, indeed, even with our own local Gaelskill here, where I am, just once we go away. Where do you live, Brendan? I live in Nottingham Carrow. So, my five-year-old goes to Gaelskill Macaulay. And they have a really good policy around keeping social media and keeping mobile phones out of the school, which the parents support. And it's so important because, you know, young people are just inundated with all of this coming at them all the time. So, our goal really is to try and bring our lads as much into the outdoors as we possibly can. Brilliant, yeah. And I think more and more younger parents are doing that as well. And they deserve credit for it. Because, always, our weather isn't – sometimes our weather isn't very clement. But I think it's, as you said, get up and get out and be out there and do what you – you kind of forget that it's raining sometimes. You would. And, you know, the thing about the outdoor activities is that a lot of them are actually even better in the rain. You know, so if you look at even some of the stuff we do, you just have to put on the right gear, get out there. The rain is really, you know, it can play a positive role in it as well to try and flip it, you know. We spend a lot of time sitting indoors looking outside saying, oh, jeez, we can't go out because it's raining. I know. It's a state of mind really as well. And I think it's something that we're looking at ourselves within the IAAP is to try and maybe change that sentiment around making a decision on whether I will or won't do an outdoor activity based on the weather conditions. Because, as I say, you know, we don't want any hurricanes, sort of like we're doing in the States at the moment. But at the same time, a little bit of rain never hurts anybody. I know. When you look at Middleton last night, Storm Middleton in Florida last night, which we did, I mean, sure, all we get is a bit of drizzles compared to – Exactly. And a nice, fresh wind is good for you. Exactly. And no better place than the west of Ireland, Connemara, to achieve that, that's for sure. The nice, fresh wind out on the west of Connemara, you know, something, it clears the lungs and it clears a lot of your problems too. It does. It does, yeah. As somebody said to me once, nobody knows where Connemara starts and ends, but you always know when you're there. I think that was the line that was used once. Well, that's a nice way of putting it, because in actual fact, we don't actually know ourselves where Connemara starts and ends, because there are varying theories on it, you know. Because the Delphi Centre at the minute now is a typical example. We thought it was in Mayo, but they're advertising it as Connemara. So, obviously, it's still Connemara, that far north. So, we'll have to get the boundaries right sometime to our own map. I definitely won't get involved in that conversation, because I have a wife from the Roscommon-Mayo border, and there's a disputed territory of Ballardreen. So, I steer clear of all that kind of policy. Oh, I know. Tell me about it. My sister-in-law's from Ballardreen. All our lives we've had it. Yeah, yeah. So, Brendan, what's your vision for IAAT going forward, as the politicians say? What are your plans for the whole association for adventure tourism going forward? Well, look, we've had a tough few years. I mean, going back to 2019, things were really on an upward trajectory for all of tourism, I should say, as well. But very much for the activity sector, we were on the up, and obviously COVID came along. Now, thankfully, we've tried to, I suppose, leverage that as well in that, you know, coming off the back of the pandemic, the outdoors has never been more popular. So, we're trying to harness that. But unfortunately, over the last year, you know, we have had a tough summer again. I mean, we've got data here that over 60% of our members expect their volume to be down on 2023. That's really, really worrying. There's a multitude of reasons there. There's a lack of accommodation, or there's cost issues with accommodation. There's the weather that I mentioned. There's the discretionary income of some of our charter markets, like Great Britain and Germany softening. And maybe an over-reliance on the domestic market at times, when a lot of that domestic market has been going abroad. So, from our own perspective, you know, looking to the future of positivity, hoping that we'll work closely now with this new government when it comes into play, whenever that might be. And certainly hoping to take advantage of that grow and that want to be out in the outdoors again. So, a lot of positivity, but still an awful lot of work to do for what is a very young sector. I think listening to, you know, the government and giving the positive figures on tourism and, you know, there has been a relatively good year for some. I think that really only applies to the cities where they have such an influx of, you know, sports followers. And they've had all the matches, the big football and hurling rugby matches and all the rest of it. Their numbers are definitely, definitely up. But that doesn't apply to rural Ireland. No, no, absolutely. That's absolutely right. I mean, there are still your honeypot sites. I mean, even I could say probably Galway City typically does quite well. But there's so much. I mean, I speak to members every day. There's so much of the country that has been decimated in places, you know, where they're clinging on. I mean, I know of some businesses who are just clinging on, hoping that next year will be the year that saves them. And if next year isn't good, that will be the end of some businesses, unfortunately. So, you know, looking forward to next year of positivity. But we absolutely need the government to recognise who we are, what we do and to support us. Because this is the absolute heart and soul of rural tourism. How much marketing does Watch Ireland and Tourism Ireland, the North and South, do for, you know, the adventure, outdoor activities and adventure tourism? Is it marketed enough outside of our own country? I mean, we all know here, you know, the things that are to be done and where to send people for different activities. Is it marketed enough or what kind of a budget does ITIC have for advertising all of these activities? Sure. Well, it's a good question. I don't have the actual exact figures to hand now. I know there's been a slight increase in the marketing budget for Tourism Ireland for next year. And it's actually something that's very much on our agenda at IWAT at the moment is looking at how the sector is marketed domestically and internationally. I think, on the whole, both Tourism Ireland internationally and Watch Ireland domestically do a very, very good job. But I would say that we would look to see probably more marketing, more cohesive marketing in conjunction with ourselves, listening to the industry voice. I think, you know, you can always improve things. The thing about it is, too, to be fair to the governing bodies, the development authorities, we as a sector... Hello? Sorry, Carmen, I may have lost you there for a second. Yeah, we did. Yeah, yeah. An incoming call or something, is there? Yeah. We were just saying that we've grown so much over the last number of years that, you know, in many respects it can be difficult to keep up with the sector. So, given where we are now and the fact that we've grown so much over the last number of years, we are looking forward to speaking with the development authorities over the next number of months and years... Great. ...to look at that long-term plan as to how it is marketed internationally. And it would be remiss of me as well not to mention the fact that we do have our annual conference coming up in Killarney at the end of November, which typically will be our own conference, which will have around about 250 delegates attend. And that's a really key day in our diary as well, to again put our hands up and say that we're here, what we're doing and what we need from the support authorities over the coming years. And it's so important for the 200 members or so that you have of IAAT to attend these conferences and be up to date with what you are doing as a body for them. But in the meantime, we wish you best. We'll probably talk to you after the conference and see, you know, what has come out of it. But for today, thank you so much indeed for joining me on the tourism programme on Connemara Community Radio. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. 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Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Go raibh maith agat, Carol. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Slán, Brenda. Well, that was Liz and Yvonne Kane with that lovely song, The Valley of Nakanoor. And I often say, I say it often on the tourism programme and again, one of our greatest marketing assets and one of the most, you know, valuable assets we have, especially in Connemara, is our music. And there's no better than the Kane sisters, well done there for all their promotions they do to promote Irish music and indeed tourism in the area. But joining me now on the line from Galway is Eithne Verling and Eithne is the Director of the Galway City Museum. Good evening, Eithne, and you're very welcome to the tourism programme. Hi, how are you? Good to be here. And yeah, I'm good, thank you as well, yes, good to have you. Now, the Galway City Museum, Eithne, maybe we'll start first by Owen, we want to congratulate you on being TripAdvisor, getting the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for over 10 years. That's a great record and you have full accreditation status as well from the Heritage Council. So you're obviously doing an awful lot right down there. Thank you very much. Yeah, we're doing well. I mean, we've done a lot of work, I suppose, in the last 10 years and in the last number of years, particularly with new exhibitions and so on. And our visitor numbers have been very strong, you know, so we're very happy. We still have a lot to do, but we're getting there. There's always a lot to do if you're involved in tourism of any kind, there's always more to be done. When was the museum first established, Eithne? There was an old museum from the 70s in Comerford House, if you know that old building that looks down to the fish market. Down beside the Spanish Arch. At the Spanish Arch, yeah, that's right. So that would have been the original Galway Museum. And that was set up, as I said, now some of it was set up even earlier than, I mean, there was collections from a woman called Claire Sheridan, a very famous, well-known sculptor. She lived in that house and she started to collect carved stone from the city, from the medieval city. So that became a kind of a base collection, if you like. But then it was officially set up, Etienne Wynne, God rest him, who was a former professor of archaeology in the university. He was one of the key people who established it as well. But anyway, so it ran until probably about 2004, but it was kind of, maybe it was being used for excavations and stuff like that, for storing objects during the Galway excavations project. And then in 2006, the new building was built and opened to the public in 2007. So it's coming on, I suppose it's 18 years, 17, 18 years in operation now. And where is that? Is it on the same site or is it as it moves? Yeah, it's just behind the Spanish Arch. They're just behind it, yeah. Yeah, it's a lovely big purpose-built museum. And yeah, I was just going to say, what was the purpose of it? It is purpose-built as a museum. How much does it hold? I mean, how many valuable artefacts have you there? We have over 10, 12,000 artefacts in the collection, but it's kind of spread over three floors. So on our ground floor, we have the archaeology galleries and the middle floor is our history galleries. And the top floor is kind of given over to science, largely. And then we have a lot of temporary exhibitions as well. We built an outdoor exhibition space during COVID, which is for photographs. And it's a beautiful outdoor space, which is very kind of democratic. So people can access that 24 hours a day. And then we have another little temporary exhibition space inside the museum. But the three floors, on our ground floor now, we have a lovely new exhibition called Surrounded by Stone, which is looking at monuments in Galway from the stone forts on the Aran Islands to the early church in Galway and then to the stone city. So it's kind of all these big stone monuments that you'd have across the whole county, you know, and indeed even into the region. Yeah, but you've managed to get them all, to have them all together and preserved in one place, which is good. It's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And we've other exhibitions. Then we have an exhibition called Keepers of the Grail, which looks at the whole kind of learned families in the west of Ireland, well in Ireland generally, but mostly in the west of Ireland from 1200 to 1600. And we have a revolution in Galway, the whole revolutionary period from 1913 to 23. We have a big exhibition on the clatter, a big exhibition on the hooker boat, a full size hooker boat hanging in our in our kind of central space atrium. We have exhibitions, we have a wonderful exhibition on the top floor called Superhuman, which is about the medtech industry. And we did that in collaboration with Curram and the university, their medtech research centre. And we indeed have another wonderful exhibition on the marine, on sea science, which we did with the Marine Institute. And another exhibition on climate change. So there's a lot, a lot to see. There's a lot going on there, a lot more than anybody, even from listening or looking outside of it, would even realise what's going on in there, which is good, you know. And yet so many different, you know, associated presentations and different. I'm just looking through all the stuff that's here now. The founder of Gaelic Galway, Turlock O'Connor, and talks on him on 5th of December. And different places, you have different, you have the short history of Galway by Brendan McGowan, who was an educator. And as you said, you have the Surrounded by Stone exhibition, which is great. And what I was interested in, I was looking for it now, trying to get as far as it, and it's called Crown Bure, a collaboration between traveller women and an artist, Breda Mayock. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. A silent connection between hair and identity within the traveller community. Would you like to tell us a bit about that? Yeah, so this is a wonderful, do you remember I was talking about the outdoor photographic gallery that we have? So this, the Crown Bure exhibition is our outdoor exhibition from now until Christmas. And it's a beautiful exhibition featuring traveller women's hair. So traveller women are very proud of their hair. They grow it very long, typically. And they look after it really well, using almond oils and all sorts of good products, you know, to keep it in such good condition. And so this exhibition was done, was a collaborative exhibition between the traveller women and Breda Mayock, who's based, and I think it was first shown through the National Museum of Ireland in Turlock Park. And so it's generated by them. But it's a lovely, it's a lovely exhibition. And it's also very important to us because we have, for the last 10 years, we've had a very good relationship with the traveller community, particularly through the Galway Traveller Movement. And we have, when you walk into the museum, the first thing that you see in there are two cases. One which is a model of a traveller encampment, and one which is a collection of traveller folk material, including pins and beady pockets and beady aprons and flowers. And indeed, we have the first Braille sign that might be even in any museum, particularly any local authority museum, was created for that case by a young traveller woman who wrote that was blind. And she wrote that for us. That's amazing. Yeah, so that's there in the exhibition as well. And so I suppose, yeah, we've done that. We continue to do a lot of work with the travellers. It's an important part of our work. That's a part of our culture as well. Very important. It's very important to be associated with it in any form. Now, coming up, it's only a couple of weeks to Halloween, Eithne. So Halloween festivals, have you got something going for that? Yeah, so during Halloween, during the midterm break, we have storytelling in the museum. And that's on Saturday, the 26th of October. We have two slots of, it's called Liver and Onions. It's a gruesome warning tale for Halloween told by the storyteller and author, Rab Fulton. And he's great fun and tells great stories. This one is a funny story about a girl from Shantala who makes an awful mistake. So, you know, it's great. But we also have, we have some workshops in the museum as well. Well, that will be during Barbaro. So that's coming up over, excuse me, over the next two weeks. We have Barbaro, so you can check with the Barbaro Arts Festival. Yeah, check with them and you can see about that. But we have an awful lot of creativity opportunities in the museum, if you like. We have all these creative stations where young people and their parents or even just, or anyone who likes, who's interested in drawing can come into the museum and they can take the special designated drawing areas on each floor. And you get paper from the front desk, you get pencils from the front desk, you get chairs from the front desk that are light and easy to carry. So if there's some object in the case that catches your eye, you can just pull up a stool, take out your paper and draw it. Yeah, so we've all of that material there as well, which is nice. And we've kind of interactive units for young people, you know, in all the exhibitions and particularly in Surrounded by Stone and up in MedTech in the Superhuman exhibition. That's great. Yeah, so there's always a lot going on. Need to book? Any need to book? You need to book the storytelling. It's free. Everything in the museum is free. Oh yeah, that's very important. Yeah, so it's a great thing to do for families, you know, especially on a wet day during midterm. You could spend a couple of hours in the museum. They could be drawing, they could be checking out the games they can play. There's a little sensory space that people can hide out in. There's all sorts of things to be doing around the museum. So we're delighted to see and to greet everybody really, but particularly our local population. Sometimes, you know, you forget to go to museums, don't you, when they're on your doorstep? Yeah, exactly. You know, so it's nice to pop in. We also have a couple of other things. We have an international Illum piping day in the museum on the 2nd of November from 2 to 4. So that's lovely and the whole place is full of lovely music on that day. And in a building like a museum, I mean, the music, it can't be nearly haunting, I suppose, especially Illum pipes. It should be fantastic. You're absolutely right. Yeah, in fact, we had a lovely Ukrainian choir in recently to launch our Surrounded by Stone exhibition. And just women's voices, they soared through the building because we have this central atrium. And in fact, speaking of Ukrainians inside, we have a tourist office attached to the museum at the moment. And we have a little pop-up gallery in there, which is to show a lovely portrait exhibition from the Ukrainian community. So we do a kind of a, they have a little pop-up gallery there that people are welcome to come and look at. And just to say as well, we have a rescheduled talk. It was due to take place on Saturday. It's to do with the founder of Galway, you know, the 900th anniversary of the founding of Galway, which I believe it's 900 years. And Dr. Ciarán O'Connor will discuss the lifetimes and legacies of the founder, Turlock O'Connor, who was the last High King of Ireland. And that's on Thursday, the 5th of December now, instead of this Saturday. Well, that's a good way off. So maybe we can come back to you before then. But unfortunately, the clock, I'm watching the clock and it's running away, running away with us. We could be here until six and talk. Unfortunately, we have somebody else waiting to talk as well. But just quickly, quickly give the museum a website. Is it museum at GalwayCity.ie? Yes, it's www.galwaycitymuseum.ie and you'll get us. We're open every day, Tuesday to Saturday from 10 to 5 and it's free. Ciarán Ashcott. That's the important thing, Ciarán Ashcott. That's it. Yes. Eithne Farring, director of the Galway City Museum. Thank you so much indeed for joining me today on the tourism program. You're a mine of information. I wish we had longer. We'll talk another time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks, Ciarán. Bye-bye. Yeah, Lee Dorsey followed by Catherine Beeford. Where else would you get us? Conamara Community Radio. That was a great tune by Fairport Convention. A nice, come-all-ye, bit of caning going on there. Taffy dancing around the kitchen. That's it for tonight. Hope that you'll tune in again next week. Conamara Community Radio. Thank you very much for listening. And I hope you enjoyed all of the music. Well, welcome back now to the program. And joining me on the line is Mr. Terence O'Toole, who is the co-chair of CATON, the Conamara and the Arden Islands Tourism Network. He's also the owner of Love Conamara Cottages. Good evening, Terence. And you're very welcome to the program. Good evening, Karen. Well, thank you very much. And I'm sorry I'm a couple of minutes late getting to you, but sure, we'll manage. We'll get through what we have to get through. That's all right. Sorry about that, yeah. Now, Terence, I talked to Dominic a couple of weeks ago, and he told me he had a meeting coming up, and I can't remember what date he said it was coming up, but that you would have the information on it when I talked to you. That was nice of him. Oh, yeah, he's very good, yeah. He just passed the book for one interview. He must be talking about the islands meeting we had. Yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah. Yeah, indeed. We had a lovely meeting out in this year. We have four quarterly meetings a year for the CATON Network, and previously they were all in person, but like COVID, like everything else, changed the world. I know. Ruined everything. We have two now in person and two virtually, so one of our in-person ones was in this year a few days back, actually. But isn't it true the virtual one doesn't compare to the in-person meeting, does it? No, I kind of see them as an interim meeting. You're only touching base on something, but you're not actually moving things on to any great degree. So true, yeah. That's how I look at it anyway. Now, was it a good turnout for it? Actually, it was a record turnout, I think, for an island trip, because I think possibly, while it's a good time of year, the season is winding down a little bit. Yeah, people have time. A lot of people probably hadn't been to an issue before, and I think in the group they hadn't, so including myself, I hadn't been out there ever. So that brought a record group, and then we had visitors from the islands themselves with us as well at the meeting, so it was great. That was lovely. That was great. And what kind of membership do you have? Have you held on to the original, and are you getting more or trying to get more? Are you campaigning for members? Are we campaigning? I suppose, I mean, a lot of... Caton in one way is a volunteer network, and it's set up to, on their call to Ireland, to sort of implement the grand plan that they launched in 2017. I know. And one of the sections in that is to collaborate all together and work together, generally speaking, but obviously in some regard to marketing as well. So Connemara.ie was the obvious thing that we can all agree on, I suppose, at least, to market Connemara and the islands. So that is live, and it has a good membership, a good loyal membership. It definitely could do with more. Yeah, that's the website. The website, yeah. And we have a paid resource on that for at least until the end of the year and possibly longer. So, I mean, it could always do with more, but there's a lot of membership requirements out there for all different organisations and everything, so it's not easy for businesses, you know. I know, but in order to survive, you know, as I said, people have to be involved and members of those kinds of organisations, which you do, and you do a great job. I mean, without Caton, I mean, there's nobody here to speak for Connemara and the islands, really, is there? No, but I suppose we have good actors there in terms of Galway County Council and Vulture Ireland and all of the other state aides there. They all do their own bits in their own silos, like we all do. We all work in our own sectors, I suppose, but Caton is unusual in that way that it kind of brings everyone together. Yeah, all aspects of tourism. Yeah, and it pays off because things get done because Johnny didn't know what Mary was doing and that kind of thing, and that can relate from individual private businesses all the way up to the state agencies. We can't all assume everybody knows everything, so that's the value of Caton, really. Yeah, what kind of financial funding has Vulture Ireland been giving to promoting Ireland West and Connemara and the islands especially? But, you know, I had a letter there, personally, from Paul Kelly there a couple of weeks ago, and, you know, everything was about the new Climate Action Program has taken a lot of their funding and their time, and they have a lot of businesses who have joined it. And another thing, Simon Harris launched the immersive experience in Brumbrody Famine Ship in Caton County, Wexford. You know, have we anything like that coming up, John, for the West? Well, for the West, I mean... I haven't seen anything yet. Maybe nothing of that scale yet, but I do know that there are plans for a change in the way they operate in regards to grant funding. So I suppose, you know, of scale, previously, things would have been granted, you know, funding calls would be open and funding calls would be closed. So it was kind of, if you weren't ready and on the button for a particular six weeks, you wouldn't get it. So it's very hard to get anything of scale designed and ready in six weeks. But that's how the old system seemed to work. But they're simply moving to a new system now where they will have an open system for, you know, a period of five years where, you know, specific funding will be there and it's open for a long period of time. So I think things will change, Carmel, that way. Yeah, I think so. Because... Yeah, I think it's needed, yeah. It's a more strategic thinking that it's long-term thinking and things of scale that start to focus, I believe, on things of quality rather than quantity and that kind of thing, bigger things rather than smaller things. And that seems to be the vibe we're getting. Yeah, well, we have, as you know, we know we have so many, you know, outdoor tourism, adventure centres and everything. But there's always different things like that, you know, like the Famine Ship. We don't have a Famine Ship, but I'm sure there are other artefacts or sites, sites that could be developed and, you know, brought into the adventure tourism trips and whatever, you know, the heritage trips. And they did invest in, not so long ago, in certain projects across Connemara. You know, for instance, I'm sure you're aware that they upgraded the interpretive facility at Kyle Moore. Oh, yeah. They have another centre announced for Inish Moor, an interpretive centre out there. They have, yeah, to the value of four or five million, I think, so it's a serious investment in that. So, to be fair to them, they are active, and I suppose if the projects are there, they'll do their best to support them and bring them on. But they kind of have to bubble up too from the area. I suppose, yeah. You know what I mean? They kind of, somebody has to be the champion of them. You know, they want them in and just build something. If you don't, if it's not asked for, they won't, you know, just won't. If you're not shouting, you know, you won't be heard. But anyway, that's Caton and Love Connemara are all the Connemara and the Arden Islands terms. But just a quick question on your own, your Love Connemara cottages. How has the self-catering season been this year? Well, in general aspects of tourism, we're reading across the board that things are, in theory, are down or, in practice, are down for many sectors. But, I mean, I'm only speaking for myself personally, but I find we're at probably the same level of business as we had last year. Well, that's good because lots of people are saying it's down, you know? Yeah, so, but typically, year on year, we would have grown from where we were 10 years old this year. So, we grew every year. But this was the first year that it didn't grow from a revenue point of view. So, obviously, that spells that things are down a bit. I'll tell you something, John. We all grew after you celebrated your 10 years in business after all the lovely cakes and treats. It was a fantastic day, a lovely turnout, and congratulations on that. But going forward, as all the politicians say, going forward into 2025, what are your plans for, you know, self-catering? What's your outlook for self-catering in Ireland? I think we can't ignore the international market. So, people often think, you know, self-catering, that all those are, you know, it's predominantly Irish. I mean, from our perspective, it's predominantly overseas. You know, 60% is outside the country for us. So, that seems to be fairly strong already. But really our, I suppose, peak booking starts from mid-December to mid-March. So, we'll see what the temperature is like early on next year for how strong it's going to be. Yeah, a lot of people, a lot of, well, maybe Irish, probably more than incoming tourists and that, seem to feel that the cost, especially of self-catering, has gone so high now that it's nearly prohibitive. Is that your experience? Well, I mean, we're trying to, for us, in one way you've got two competing aspects. You've got, I suppose, property owners that have put their time and investment and love into a property to get it to make a return for them. And then, so their expectations can be high as to what can be earned. And then you have to come up against the reality of the market. And the market will only give you what it feels like it should. So, we're nearly always, while we might have upward pressure to put prices up, we'll always be putting pressure to bring them down or at least bring them in line with the market. I know, I know. Because if they fail, because if nothing's moving, then we're not doing any good, they're not doing any good. So, it depends on the accommodation type. But, generally speaking, it's good value. Certainly, the standards... Yeah, but people, tourists will always say that the standards of self-catering and of the houses in the country, in Ireland, like it's second to none. And there would be people who would have travelled to other countries and rented, you know, the chalets and jetés and all the rest of it, you know. And they come to Ireland and they do say, you know, and I've talked to lots of them over the years, and they do say that the standards of our holiday homes, really and truly, are up there with the best. So, that's a good report to get, isn't it? It is. And even today, you mentioned quality, we're just in the middle of our annual Fall to Ireland to assess all of our properties every year. Yeah, I know. That scheme is available to everyone. Yeah. So, they're in the middle of that as well, and they go around and they do a detailed review of every property. So, I mean, like there is a high standard out there anyway, but the state agencies do keep an eye on it as well if you ask them, I suppose. It keeps getting better. It does. Thank you so much indeed for joining me on the tourism programme today. It's always a pleasure to talk to you and to get the updates on self-catering and catering especially. But for today, thank you for joining me on the tourism programme. Thanks, Cameron. That's it for today, listeners. I hope you enjoyed the programme. We had a busy programme and it's fairly full. I hope there was something in it for everybody and bits of information for everyone involved. You can hear the programme again tomorrow, of course, if there's anything, or online all week on www.connemarafm.com. But for James, who is here on the desk with me, the soldiering on as always, and Karen, who did all the research, thank you for listening and bye-bye for this evening. www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk www.connemarafm.co.uk
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