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I tried staycation but I’ll be off to Spain next year

Did you hear the one about the staycationer who went to see some touristy stuff only to find them closed?

That’s me. I’m a Dub living in Cork for the past 10 years. I decided to do my bit for the economy and holiday at home. Two weeks ago I went to New Ross, Co Wexford. I am interested in family histories so I decided to go to see the ancestral home of the late US President John F Kennedy. But alas when I got there, there was nothing to see; only a padlocked gate and a few old sheds.

What a disappointment and a missed opportunity. I presumed there would be a coffee shop there, and my family and I would have our lunch there, and maybe buy a souvenir. How many American tourists have been disappointed by this?

Disappointed but undeterred, I went to Dublin the next day, Monday. I decided to go to the Collins Barracks Museum as I had heard from friends that it is a very interesting place and a lot of work has gone into it in recent years. My family and I went into the reception to pay our entry fee only to be told by a very friendly man sitting at the reception desk that the museum was closed.

Every Monday throughout the holidays, the height of our tourist season, Collins Barracks Museum is closed. “Only in Ireland,” I thought to myself. The friendly man told me they often get bus loads of tourists on a Monday only to be disappointed. Disappointed tourists, money not spent, what a shame, how unprofessional. Who will be going to Spain next year? Me, that’s who.

S Griffin
Ovens
Cork

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