Mayo chambers of commerce seek meeting amidst ‘very significant’ drop in tourist footfall

ALL six chambers of commerce in Mayo are hoping to meet to discuss the ongoing fallout over the lack of tourist accommodation in the county.

This comes amid a warning from Westport-based county councillor Peter Flynn that West Mayo is experiencing a ‘very significant’ drop-off in footfall due to shortage of tourist accommodation.

“Every time I go downtown there isn’t a business owner that I don’t meet that mentions the fact that their income is down, and their footfall is down,” Cllr Flynn told The Mayo News.

At present approximately 30 percent of hotel, B&B and guesthouse accommodation in Mayo has been contracted over to the government.

A report from Fáilte Ireland earlier this year warned that the county was on track to significant revenue due to a shortage of hotel beds.

Speaking to The Mayo News, Westport Chamber CEO Geraldine Horkan said that Westport businesses have experienced a drop-off in tourist spending due to the lack of local accommodation.

Ms Horkan said that each chamber of commerce in Mayo would like to discuss a strategy to deal with the situation, which she said ‘can’t continue’.

“Certainly, some of the retailers in particular are saying that there is a drop-off,” she said.

“What they are saying is there is day trippers, but what they’re really noticing is the fact that people are not staying in the town because there isn’t the accommodation to stay in the town, therefore they are not browsing as long. It’s like passing trade.

“I know that some of the businesses have said that they would really like to meet with the other chambers and actually have a strategy together with the local councils…and whoever else and see can they come up with a strategy really, because it can’t continue,” she added.

At present, Mayo is accommodating over 3,000 refugees from Ukraine as well as approximately 900 International Protection Applications.

Motion passed

IN light of this, elected representatives on Mayo County Council recently passed a motion calling on the council’s Chief Executive to ‘undertake a report to evaluate the impact on County Mayo’s ability to support employment, encourage enterprise, deliver critical services and maximise investment in the county’.

The report will involve the work of professional consultants and will be presented to county councillors at their September meeting.

According to figures obtained by Cllr Flynn, at least 3.4 percent of Mayo’s population is now comprised of refugees, above the national figure of 2.1 percent.

Cllr Flynn said that Ireland had gone ‘way beyond the call of duty’ in accommodating refugees.

“I think it was the right thing to do, but we need to take a step back and figure out where are we going to go as a country,” Cllr Flynn told The Mayo News.

“Are we going to cause damage to a critical part of our economy which will ultimately create a divide amongst refugees and indigenous people? And that’s the last thing we want to do. Because if we start shutting down businesses and people start losing jobs, you know the result and I know the result; it’s going to be a backlash against refugees.”

More expense

THE Westport-based councillor said that staying in West Mayo had become more expensive due to a lack of accommodation.

“It means people aren’t going to come back again because it feels like they’ve been exploited as part of this whole process so the long-term consequences for West Mayo is very significant if we continue the way we are going.”

Cllr Flynn said that Dublin should take in an extra 50,000 refugees to balance the number of refugees being accommodated in each county.

The Fine Gael councillor also labelled the accommodation of refugees in industrial estates as ‘most inappropriate’, accusing ‘speculators and faceless opportunists’ of profiting from the refugee influx .

He cited the ongoing controversy surrounding an industrial unit in Ballina which is due to accommodate nearly 200 asylum seekers, a move which has been opposed by local representatives and businesses.

“What they’re doing in counties like Mayo and Donegal is that they are looking at cheap accommodation, the basic standards, and they just fill in as many people as possible into these locations and they don’t care about the actual refugees,” Cllr Flynn said.

“All they care about is maximising their revenue. So counties like Mayo and Donegal are ideal for that because you can buy substandard properties for relatively cheap money and let people into them. That’s what’s the big issue in Mayo at the moment.”