British duomake Irish ‘travelmentary’

“WISH you were here” has a new meaning for two tourists planning a road trip around Ireland with an entire audience in tow.

British holidaymakers, Ken Macarthur from Edinburgh and Shamilla Nandlal from London, will be gobbling oysters, surfing and making their own pieces of Waterford Crystal for the online “travelmentary” dreamed up by Tourism Ireland to promote Ireland as a holiday destination.

The pair won the all-expenses paid trip in the agency’s “Taxi” competition, which was run over the summer in Britain.

They will be equipped with a video recorder and camera and followed by a film crew as they travel around the island in a chauffeur-driven silver taxi.

For daily updates of their trip visit www.tourismireland.com/taxi.

The pair begin their ten-day tour in Belfast on Saturday, September 3, and finish in Dublin on Monday, September 12.

Along the way they will do daily tasks, which range from eating 10 oysters in one minute at the Hillsborough International Oyster Festival, to surfing off Fanore Beach in Co Clare, and creating their very own piece of Waterford Crystal. They will win £1,000 (€1,400) for each successfully completed task.

Laughlin Rigby, the brand manager with Tourism Ireland, said: “We have devised a packed and fun schedule for them which emphasises just how much Ireland has to offer as a holiday destination, and are really looking forward to viewing the results nightly online.”