Neill O’Neill
Getting what colour the sky is or what the sun feels like on your skin, such has been the weather over this incredibly wet summer. However, Mayo has in fact been the driest county in Ireland since the clouds rolled in during June.
Official figures obtained from Met Éireann show that last month Mayo had 145 per cent (classified as wet) of the average amount of rainfall for the month of June. This is in stark contrast with many other parts of the country which recorded between 250 and 300 per cent (beyond classification) of the average rainfall for June.
June 2006 was an exceptionally dry month by comparison, with 34.1mm of rain in Belmullet whereas 71.5mm fell in June this year. In the Claremorris weather station the difference between the figures was even greater with 100.2mm of rain falling last month where just 39.1mm were recorded 12 months previously.
In fact, the weather station in Belmullet had the lowest amount of rainfall of all Met Éireann stations in the country during June 2007, while the station in the Phoenix Park in Dublin recorded its highest rainfall figure for any June since 1958.
So far this month Mother Nature has shown no reprieve, but fears that tourism in the west are suffering drastically seem to be ill-conceived. Similarly, rumours of a mass exodus from these shores to sunnier climes also seem unfounded, despite the Irish Travel Agents’ Association declaring in a survey last week that ‘the continuing bad weather has led to a 20 to 30 per cent surge in holiday bookings in the past few weeks’.
Evelyn Byrne of Castle Travel Worldchoice, Castlebar, told The Mayo News that while there is a rise in bookings, including last-minute bookings, these are consistent with annual growth and other factors and are not driven solely by the inclement weather. She added that, while the weather might be prompting many people to enquire about going abroad, the lack of good last-minute deals, is, in the main, preventing this from actually happening.
“The schools are off and it’s peak season and the holiday operators are not dropping their prices,” she said. “People think they are going to get cheap and cheerful but the reality is that prices are at a premium.”
She further said that many people who had their SSIAs mature in early 2007 have long since booked holidays, and this is one of the major reasons for increases in foreign travel this year.
However, Chairperson of Destination Westport, Pat Alyward, feels that the weather is causing many Irish people who go on casual holidays to stay at home. He cited examples of B&Bs and guesthouses, many of which have empty rooms in summer for the first time, but also said that those who had booked accommodation in holiday homes and hotels in the area months ago seem determined to see these holidays through.
He also said that the pre-season was among the busiest ever in Westport, which led to a lot of expectation. He feels that if the people who usually drift into town on impulse don’t start appearing the overall numbers and revenue figures will be down. This, he contends, is especially true of the rural accommodation sector, many of whom depend on the town reaching capacity before the guests come knocking.
Chairman of the Westport Tourism Marketing Committee, Michael O’Donnell, said that while he feels the weather is impacting somewhat on the region, the fact that we are now also geared towards indoor activities is limiting the damage. Recalling the last very wet summer of the mid-eighties he noted that there were no leisure centres in Westport then, whereas now there are seven.
“A lot of the complaining is east coast based as opposed to around here” he said, “and you must also remember that with peace in Northern Ireland we no longer have the multitudes of holiday makers who once flocked here from across the border every July.”
There are however always some tales of woe and one surfaced last week concerning a family who came to Westport on a cycling holiday but had to throw in the towel and rent a car for the remainder of their trip.
Another Westport based travel agent confirmed to The Mayo News that a family from Cork who were in the town on a break decided to call in and book themselves on a sun holiday.
