Call for campaign to counter warnings to foreign tourists

TOURISM Ireland is to meet with the US and Australian embassies after both countries issued warnings to their citizens about travelling to the North following a recent rise in dissident activity.

Fine Gael has warned that visitor numbers all over the island will be “damaged” because of the warnings and has urged the Department of Tourism to launch a “counter-campaign” urging American visitors not to have concerns about travelling to any part of the island.

The United States bureau of consular affairs warned of the increased threat from the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA.

“Attacks by these groups have focused primarily on police and military targets, and involved the use of firearms and explosives; these types of attacks could continue,” it said.

“US citizens travelling to Northern Ireland should remain alert to their surroundings and should be aware that if they choose to visit potential flashpoints or attend parades; sporadic violence remains a possibility”.

Australia has also warned its citizens travelling to the North to avoid all protests and demonstrations because “they could inadvertently be caught up in violence directed at others”.

The revised guidance follows a number of failed bomb attacks on police officers. Earlier this year police said the danger from dissidents was at its worst since the 1998 Real IRA Omagh bomb, which killed 29 people.

The Australian government’s official travel advice notes that “two bombs were defused in County Down on 4 and 8 August 2010, and a car bomb exploded outside a police station”.

The Department of Tourism said the warning should not be taken out of context. “Potential tourists to Ireland are far more likely to use websites such as discoverireland.ie rather than the state department sites,” a spokesperson said. “These state department websites usually adopt a precautionary line in terms of the security advice offered.”

But FG spokesperson on tourism Jimmy Deenihan said the warnings could be damaging to visitor numbers across the whole island because travel to the North and South is now promoted through the one agency.