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Ice rink to go to Waterford

  • 14-07-2006 12:32pm
    #1
    road_high
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,638 ✭✭✭✭


    Ice rink to go to Waterford
    A private company that wanted to bring a temporary ice rink to Kilkenny this Christmas has now decided to locate the rink in Waterford instead.
    The decision will be a blow to those eager to learn how to skate and to local businesses who had hoped to benefit from a mini tourism boom which might have seen Christmas trading rise by 30%.
    "The rink would have brought a steady flow of about 200 people an hour to the city," said Declan Murphy, the new tourism officer in Kilkenny. Many people from surrounding counties would have come, he added. 'Its unfortunate it didn't come to fruition."
    It would also have been the centre piece of a Christmas fair which is still likely to go ahead and include a traditional German-style market.
    Limerick-based Futerama Productions held detailed discussions about the plan with County Manager Michael Malone, hoteliers and the chamber of commerce earlier this year but was unable to secure a site for the temporary rink.
    The Office of Public Works declined a request to allow the rink to be erected in the castle grounds while traders objected to suggestions that it be placed in the council-owned carpark next to Dunnes Stores.
    The total cost of running the ice rink is about €500,000 and some money for the site would have come from the council and local businesses in the hope that the rink would have lured visitors to the city over Christmas.
    A similar ice rink in the town of Clifden gave a massive boost to the town's businesses as well as providing an enjoyable fortnight for locals who enjoy skating, watching others skate, or just by enjoying a hot chocolate while soaking up the festive atmosphere.
    Clifden's hotels and B&Bs had 'Skate and Shop' weekend packages for families while shops hosted shopping specials every weekend, music sessions in the pubs, treasure hunts, and a Santa's grotto.
    "We're not doing anything right at the moment," said one Kilkenny hotelier who asked not to be named.
    "There are many understandable reasons why Kilkenny has lost this great opportunity and Waterford has gained it but the bottom line is that we lost it.
    We just cannot keep losing out or Kilkenny will slip into irrelevance. Waterford seems to be screwing us every way these days."
    14 July 2006


Comments

  • #2
    Stephen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    That's such a stupid remark at the end of it - "waterford seems to be screwing us" - Its not like waterford council prevented them from getting a site in Kilkenny :rolleyes:


  • #3
    ecksor
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    Maybe that's why he preferred not to be named :)


  • #4
    road_high
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,638 ✭✭✭✭road_high


    Stephen wrote:
    That's such a stupid remark at the end of it - "waterford seems to be screwing us" - Its not like waterford council prevented them from getting a site in Kilkenny :rolleyes:

    I know-talk about opening old wounds.The 'KK People' love this kind of stuff,the KK vs Waterford thing.The opw wouldnt allow it into the Castle, even though its a perfect site-we shot ourselves in the foot here, Waterford probably had a better site available then.

    If anything, KK is getting more than enough of its fair share of bloody tourists- all they do is clog up the place- I much rather do my business in Carlow, least you can get in around the centre without mobs of doddling tourists in your face 24/7!
    What od the hotel owners expect- theyve had a festival practically every weekend of this summer so far, there's way too many of them to start with.


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