€7.25 for tea, a hint of tart — and sour service

ARE you okay? That is the question.

So tourist revenue collapsed last year and almost one million visitors were lost (Irish Examiner, March. 1)

There are very many people here in west Cork and elsewhere who work extremely hard — and imaginatively — to promote our tourist industry.

The pending restoration of the Cork-Swansea ferry and the recent €1 hotel promotion in Clonakilty are just two local examples.

But then, alas, despite our efforts, we often shoot ourselves in the foot. The domestic or foreign visitor to Bantry, for example, might decide to have a pot of tea and a slice of apple tart some afternoon in an establishment there.

The rectangular piece of apple tart — or “pie” as it was referred to by staff and “dessert” on the bill — measured three-and-a-half inches long by two inches wide. The total cost was €7.25 — that was €2 for the pot of tea, which was fair enough, but an incredible €5.25 for the apple tart. This was not served in a five-star restaurant in New York, London or Monte Carlo for goodness sake — but in a public hostelry in Bantry with the wind blowing in the door.

As for the service ... well, following the opening greeting of “are you okay?”, there was no word spoken, no eye contact made with the customer — tea and tart were plonked down with less grace than a sheep-farmer placing a stone in a gap.

Imagine your typical cost-conscious British tourist coming off the new ferry (when it finally sails) and experiencing this.

Would he or she be likely to return? I don’t think so.

As for the Yanks — “Go, figure”, as they say themselves.

Dan O’Leary

Rossmore

Clonakilty

Co Cork