Hanafin to take part in volcano video conference

Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin will take part in a video conference with her EU counterparts today to discuss the economic fall-out of the Iceland volcano.

Ireland lost an estimated €50m of normal inbound tourism revenue when airspace shut down earlier this month due to the ash cloud.

Over 90,000 visitors who would have arrived in Ireland during this period could not travel, costing us about €20m in hotel bookings.

Minister Hanafin said she hopes that many of those visitors will have re-booked for later dates.