‘Westport wouldn't be Westport without the tourism’ - Mayo business reacts to holiday homeowner boycott proposal
Councillor says boycotting holiday home owners is a ‘maverick idea’ and ‘completely outside the remit of the committee’
“We need the people coming here because they support so many jobs”, Muirtí Ó Cearnaigh, owner of Summer SUP at Old Head Beach tells The Mayo News. “Westport wouldn't be Westport without tourism.”
He does not support the proposed boycott of holiday homeowners in Mayo, put forward by an official from Mayo County Council, Tom Gilligan. A proposal which Mayo County Council have stated "does not reflect the official position of Mayo County Council.”
“It's not like it's a holiday home in the Seychelles, the owners come down in the winter and they come down at the weekends and they come all year around. They actually use the houses. It’s not just a two week stint”, Ó Cearnaigh says.
These calls come against the background of a decline in tourism over the last three years.
“Last year was the west coast’s worst ever and this year, based on Tourism Ireland’s predictions, we’re down on last year.”
He employs four local people at Summer SUP and “if we didn't have our few tourists that are coming, I wouldn't be able to employ those four and that’s four people without a job.”
The decline in tourism has already been felt locally, he says as "we lost the butcher and a water sports shop in Louisburgh as there is not enough business, so we need the people coming.”
Maverick idea
The chairman of Mayo County Council's strategic policy housing group, Peter Flynn has disassociated himself from the “maverick idea”
The Westport-based councillor has said that he has “no difficulty with radical ideas if they are implementable.”
He went on to say that “this is completely outside the remit of the committee and none of the members support it.”