Diplomatic street ambassadors win hearts and minds

POLISH student Evelima Biedrzycka seemed lost as she wandered up O’Connell Street in Limerick.

She couldn’t have been lost in a better place as street ambassador Jean Ryan was on duty.

Spotting Evelima rolling her luggage along, Jean approached and introduced herself.

Jean said: “She was looking for a coffee shop to meet a friend and was delighted that we could help her find her way.”

Evelima, a 26-year-old student in tourism studies, said: “The street ambassador idea is very good. I have not come across it before, and I was so pleased to get her help.”

Limerick man Pat Fitzgerald is home for a week’s holiday from Middlesbrough where he has lived for the past 40 years.

Pat learned of some new visitor attractions from street ambassador Pat Gleeson.

He said: “There are great changes in Limerick and these ambassadors are great for people who might not know the city very well.”

Pakistani visitors Toquir Awais and Mohammed Jamshaid wanted to find out about some historic sights and Jean and Pat pointed them in the direction of King’s John’s Castle armed with complimentary maps.

“Very nice people, ” said Mohammed.

Andrew Mawhinney, head of the Limerick City Co-Ordination Office which runs the street ambassador scheme, said there has been a very positive feedback to their arrival on the streets.

He said: “Visitors are delighted. We have also been contacted by places such as Dublin’s Temple Bar inquiring about our street ambassadors. We are particularly pleased to be the first place in Ireland to appoint street ambassadors.”

The street ambassador project will cost €70,000 for two summers and 50% of the funding comes from the EU.

Limerick’s 10 street ambassadors took up duty earlier this month.

The idea came from Kay McGuinness, who chairs the board of the Limerick Co-Ordination Office.

She said: “I first read about the street ambassador programme in a British Airways in-flight magazine which featured Glasgow when it was European capital of culture. It was always my hope to introduce a similar programme in Limerick.

Ambassador Albert Cullen is a retired traffic warden. He said: “The upside of my job as a traffic warden was giving visitors directions and my work as a street ambassador is a continuation of that by providing tourists with a warm welcome and sending them away with a good impression of Limerick.”

Limerick Civic Trust set up a training course for the ambassadors which included information on the main city landmarks, communications skills and acquiring essential phrases in four European languages.