Tourism boost - Visitors to Ireland rise

TOURISM is a bedrock of the Irish economy and so it’s heartening to see the number of visitors to Ireland in the second quarter of the year up almost 250,000.

Even more encouraging is the news that while this upsurge was mainly from continental Europe, the number of visitors from North America is also on the increase. It remains to be seen if the trend will be affected by the current global economic dip. However, the rise is proof that more people will come to Ireland when they get value for money.

Ironically, though visitors are coming here in greater numbers, more Irish people left the country between May and June than in the second quarter last year. Doubtless, they were escaping the endless downpours — and who could blame them.