It’s time to get out of our tourist trap and offer value for money

WITH all the talk about a possible visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland and the 3 Irish Open being played at Killarney this weekend, it is worth remembering that the queen’s great, great grandmother, Queen Victoria, was largely responsible for putting Killarney on the tourist map with her visit to the area in 1861.

Victoria went boating on the Lakes and spent a couple of nights at Muckross House, which is now one of the main visitor attractions in Killarney. Her women attendants were taken to a high point to view the lakes, and this was thereafter known as Ladies View.

On Newstalk radio last Sunday, Ger Colleran asked Justice Minister Dermot Ahern if Queen Elizabeth II would be taken to Ladies View, if she comes here next year. The minister had obviously never heard of Ladies View, but then there is a great many places and things that all of us have ignored.