Tourism sees drop in visitor numbers

The number of people visiting Ireland fell again in May with 155,000 less trips were taken to Ireland when compared with the same month in 2009.

There was a 30% drop in the number of people visiting from the UK while visitors from the rest of Europe were down almost 20% in May.

The number of American visitors was also down 17%.

It comes as the Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin announces a new group to take charge of driving competitiveness in the industry.