Island should welcome tourists — not prisoners

RECENTLY I attended a conference in Cobh, Co Cork, entitled ‘Spike Island: Hidden History. An Opportunity in Tourism’.

An expert panel of speakers outlined the history of the island and spoke of similar places around the world that are now tourist attractions and places that celebrate history.

Rich Weideman, who has worked with the US Parks Department in Alcatraz for 25 years, spoke of the success of the infamous ‘Rock’. When it opened in 1973, it had 50,000 visitors. In 2005, it had 1.4 million visitors. It is so successful that it turns away close to one million visitors each year.