Catherine Drea: Is Ireland just for tourists?

Way back in the 1950s, the President of Pan American Airlines had an idea to inspire more tourism between the United States and Ireland. It was the beginning of the super jet age. So in cooperation with the fledgling Bord Fáilte, it was decided to initiate a festival called An Tóstal to promote Ireland as a tourist destination.

Around this time my grandparents were running a small restaurant in the market square of a midlands town. Business there was mainly dinner in the middle of the day served to local workers and farmers and afternoon tea with homemade scones, soda bread and jam. As the American market began to take off, their business was right at the halfway point between Dublin and Killarney and ideally placed as a stop-off.

Suddenly my sweet Irish granny was the centre of a very important and glamorous service. She was now catering to huge CIE bus tours of yanks (as she called them) stopping off for an hour for a cuppa and to use the facilities.

My granny had to up her game. Nescafe coffee, which had never been served before, was bought in vast quantities, traditional scones were replaced by chocolate biscuits and she would have to have her hair done more often!

I always think of those days when I travel in Ireland and see how much tourism has changed in that time. No matter where I went this year, I was surrounded by groups of tourists looking slightly bewildered. That’s how you spot them! They are often wandering aimlessly, looking for signposts or staring into their phones, trying to figure out where their next distillery visit is.

I go between feeling sorry for them as they try to manage some of the outrageously “stage oirish” shopping they are offered, to feeling slightly irritated that they clutter up the place. I know we need them and I am as good as anyone at falling over myself to be helpful and friendly to them. But still, it’s a lot.

In 2025, 6.4 million of them came here and this year already that figure has increased by approximately 15%. Tourism is still our biggest industry, employing almost 227,000 people and even though we are losing pubs we are gaining coffee shops and nail bars.

Although the number of tourists is very healthy, on a recent visit to Kilkenny I was shocked to see that even there, the High Street is losing retail and character. For the first time I noticed many more derelict and empty buildings along what was once the envy of other towns. If you want to find where the locals hang out, just like everywhere else, they are thronging to Dunnes and Penney’s.

Meanwhile, the tourists were queueing up for the Medieval Mile Museum, St. Canice's Cathedral and the new Butler Gallery. It’s no wonder that the shops are so empty of locals. Aran sweaters and tweed caps are the order of the day, along with an assortment of green yokes and shamrock mugs in almost all the shops.

A tourist’s view of Ireland must be like a parallel universe. Americans in Aran jumpers and tweed caps with the idea that this is what Irish men wear every day, while the local lads are down the street buying sweatshirts and jeans?

It’s interesting how Ireland has become flavour of the month. From billionaires plotting their escape to castles in the county, to influencers moving their families to the Financial Services centre of Dublin to work for a tech company or travel writers informing the world of their favourite pubs and villages. I am beginning to understand how the locals in Venice finally called a halt as the daily cruise ships overwhelmed the town and thousands of tourists spent a day tramping through their streets.

Tourists have to be catered for and we seem to be obliging by creating more museums and visitor attractions than ever. But isn’t it important to preserve some of what makes us unique and to build the kind of country that is first and foremost good for us, the citizens who live here all year round?

Now we are lucky here in Waterford because we do that and our international tourism business is secondary to our Irish-based business. Our visitors who traditionally come from neighbouring counties are benefitting as much as we are ourselves from the amazing community projects in our villages and towns.

This is what makes our quality of life here in County Waterford second to none. Our coastline, beaches, mountains and trails are among the best in the country. Our small businesses, pubs and cafes, as well as our community-run centres and projects offer authentic and relaxed fare. Those of us living here are blessed!

It can be a hard balance to get right. How do we develop and grow our tourism businesses without becoming inauthentic or even doing long-term damage to our environment? 

For the first time I heard feedback from tourists that rivers where they had been promised pristine fishing were far from pristine and mountains where they had planned to trek were spoiled by turbines.

Our stunning landscape is precious to us and our visitors. We need to think very carefully about infrastructure design, data centres and electricity generation. If Ireland is a good place for us it will be right for them too.