Northern Holidaymakers

Firblog

Walking thru Donegal town today an saw alot of northerners down for the 12th, and thought just how good are they for the economy? (remembered seeing a group of (seemingly) affluent 50 year olds in a hotel bar in killybegs a few years ago sneaking drink out of a handbag)

slimboyfat

If Donegal didn't have the Northen Holiday makers, this county would be in total ruins, alot of people depend on their money to make a living either directly ( shops, hotels, bars, caravan parks, resturants ) or indirectly ( industry that supllies all the shops, bars etc ).

Firblog

Dunno if they that much of a help, think most take everything with them from home. Rarely hear northern accent in any restaurants - then again I don't be in many myself...

oranbhoy67

Firblog wrote: »

Dunno if they that much of a help, think most take everything with them from home. Rarely hear northern accent in any restaurants - then again I don't be in many myself...

that right there could be why your not hearing many!

Cee-Jay-Cee

I dont want to be too controversial but IMO they contribute very very little (if anything at all) to the local communities in which they stay/visit. The vast vast majority bring their own food and drink with them and in my own experience the only thing they leave behind is their rubbish. I have personal experience of this and i'm not just shooting from the hip!

The only businesses that profit from northerners is petrol station owners in border areas and thats not just a seasonal thing.

slimboyfat

CJC999 wrote: »

I dont want to be too controversial but IMO they contribute very very little (if anything at all) to the local communities in which they stay/visit. The vast vast majority bring their own food and drink with them and in my own experience the only thing they leave behind is their rubbish. I have personal experience of this and i'm not just shooting from the hip!

The only businesses that profit from northerners is petrol station owners in border areas and thats not just a seasonal thing.

Well if you go to aeras like Downings, Dunfanaghy, Bundoran, Portnoo, Poartsalon and take away all the northerners, look at you will have left and I bet if you ask any businesses or people employed in those areas who they survive they on for a living, my bet is they will say the northern holiday makers.

Sure they bring food and beer with them, with some things costing twice to what they pay at home, I bet most people would do the same, I know I would.

Madam

It's easy seen none of you have been in Bundoran or Ballyshannon at this time of year where the Northern Irish are everywhere, in pubs restaurants and shopping too or just buying ice cream along the road:)

oranbhoy67

slimboyfat wrote: »

Well if you go to aeras like Downings, Dunfanaghy, Bundoran, Portnoo, Poartsalon and take away all the northerners, look at you will have left and I bet if you ask any businesses or people employed in those areas who they survive they on for a living, my bet is they will say the northern holiday makers.

Sure they bring food and beer with them, with some things costing twice to what they pay at home, I bet most people would do the same, I know I would.

Spot on.. Some of these towns are like ghost towns the rest of the year.. its the Northeners keeping these places going.. & look at the amount of people here who go shopping in the North.. & no wonder with the Republics disgraceful rip-off prices!

kellso81

CJC999 wrote: »

I dont want to be too controversial but IMO they contribute very very little (if anything at all) to the local communities in which they stay/visit. The vast vast majority bring their own food and drink with them and in my own experience the only thing they leave behind is their rubbish. I have personal experience of this and i'm not just shooting from the hip!

I've been staying in Donegal with my family and friends at least two or three times a year, every year for the past thirty years. Stayed in numerous hotels/holiday lets, drank in too many bars to remember, and more often than not ate out wherever we were whether in a restaurant or cafe! So I think your talking through your pipe!

Firblog

Just today one fellow with a Nothern accent came into my place of work - not a pub or restaurant - and asked if he could use the loo.... Didn't buy anything or say thanks... (or bring his own bog roll)

slimboyfat

Firblog wrote: »

Just today one fellow with a Nothern accent came into my place of work - not a pub or restaurant - and asked if he could use the loo.... Didn't buy anything or say thanks... (or bring his own bog roll)

I see your point.....................there's a serious lack of public toilets around where you work!!

oranbhoy67

Firblog wrote: »

Just today one fellow with a Nothern accent came into my place of work - not a pub or restaurant - and asked if he could use the loo.... Didn't buy anything or say thanks... (or bring his own bog roll)

Could haven been worse! He could have brought his own northern bog roll with him!!

jar18

go into any pub in the kerrykeel,portsalon area and most of the northeners are taking their drink out of bags. they also think they own the roads when they are here.

oranbhoy67

Wow .. youd think in this day & age people would be doing all they can to encourage tourists to come to our county instead of moaning about them!

jar18

well,,,if you lived in this area you wouldnt be be saying that..

oranbhoy67

I live in Donegal & travel thru the county & i know that without tourists then this County would be far worse off than it already is.. this County has long been ignored by Dublin & we should be glad that so many Northeners come thru here .. not moaning about a minority who might smuggle a few drinks into the pub.. ive worked on the doors of nightclubs here & believe me theres plenty of locals that do the same.. i dont drink myself but with the price of drink here i dont blame them!

Senna

They do spend in local business, but just nowhere near the amounts they would have when there was 30-40% in the exchange rates. A bus full of 50 Scottish tourist would spend more in 3 days than 200 northerners would spend in a week.
I'm glad they come here, but i just wish they wouldn't take their own drink wherever they go.

Durnish

Funny, it's all true, both sides. The rubbish, yes, I find it dificult to explain to people that they are responsible for their own waste, the plastic bottles, the tins the glass bottles. This is because the UK tax system supports public services like waste collection and people take it for granted. The food and drink, well, yes we now bring a lot of food from the north but so do Donegal people. The exchange rate is not with sterling at the moment. Witness also the continual themes on this board about how to bring (smuggle?) oil in drums over the border, never mind the problems about northern registered cars driven by Donegal drivers.
I think it best not to dwell on driving habits.

Now for the good news. Donegal has always been a Janus county, looking both ways, but mostly north-east.
My parents brought six children, two cousins and their parents here to Portnoo in the sixties. This year about a hundred of us are coming back for a wedding. Many are flying so won't be bringing in food and drink. That's a big return to the local shops, cafes and bars for kindness and generousity of spirit shown to us UK "visitors" in the Sixties.

Up the Republic, here's to the smell of peat as you cross the border at Pettigo, the Oatfield Orange Chocolates, if you can find them, and the men scything the hay fields.

NIMAN

As a Northerner living in the South, and close to places where Northerners would come for a day out/weekend, I can see both sides.

Yes they do leave rubbish around, but any more than everyone does?

Yes they often bring their own food and drink to caravans/holiday homes. Can you blame them? We are in a recession and the prices of food/drink in Ireland is still much higher than NI.

But they do pay big fees for their rent on these holiday homes. And they do spend money at times in the South. To say they spend nothing is nonsense. If its made more competitive then they would spend more.

I still shop in the North for big grocery shops. I'm no martyr and simply refuse to pay the prices they charge in the South. I make no apologies. Reduce the prices and I will shop South.

fontanalis

There is a chance Donegal tourists are the Northerners of other counties anecdotes.

rightyabe

The Northerners around my part of Donegal who come to caravans etc. dont spend alot if there only staying a week all I can see is Asda bags coming out of the car, but if they stay longer they have to shop local then.

Alot of them when there leaving clean their caravan and then head down to the beach in the car and fill the public bins at the beach with the rubbish from the caravan, I've even had people tell me "isn't it great we can use these bins"

All they buy in the local pub is ice, and I think thats free...but who can blame them pubs are very expensive places for a night out. A litre of lager in a pub is around €6.60 (If a pint is €3.70) whereas you can buy 6 cans (3 litres) for about a tenner.

So I think they do bring a bit of good to the local economy, with the odd scrooge in between them, Its better to have some people around rather than it being a ghost town...and dont get me started on there driving!!!:mad:

NIMAN

So would you rather they just stayed in NI then, since they add nothing at all to the economy, and do nothing but ruin the environment and spoil the countryside?:rolleyes:

rightyabe

NIMAN wrote: »

So would you rather they just stayed in NI then, since they add nothing at all to the economy, and do nothing but ruin the environment and spoil the countryside?:rolleyes:

Not at all I also love standing in a que in a shop wile a Nordy counts all his wee tiny 1 and 2 cents....:D

But seriously its better to have them than not have them, alot of them build house out here to and fix up old houses etc. which creates work.

There not all bad only a small minority give them a "bad" name.:)

Cee-Jay-Cee

NIMAN wrote: »

So would you rather they just stayed in NI then, since they add nothing at all to the economy, and do nothing but ruin the environment and spoil the countryside?:rolleyes:

If it were my choice...yes.

muffler

CJC999 wrote: »

If it were my choice...yes.

Thankfully it's not.

Firblog

Dunno about ppl who excuse the taking drink into pubs / disco's etc because of the price, personally if I can't afford to buy a drink in a pub I won't go into one... If I can't afford to go out and enjoy myself on holidays I won't go on a holiday. I'd rather knock about home an go out and about enjoying myself, rather than go somewhere -spend money on accommodation - and scrimp on the entertainment/food/drink etc.

I suppose that overall they do have a positive impact on the local economy - spending more money than it costs to service their needs - but in a lot of cases they're actually a drain on our resources.

fontanalis

Firblog wrote: »

Dunno about ppl who excuse the taking drink into pubs / disco's etc because of the price, personally if I can't afford to buy a drink in a pub I won't go into one... If I can't afford to go out and enjoy myself on holidays I won't go on a holiday. I'd rather knock about home an go out and about enjoying myself, rather than go somewhere -spend money on accommodation - and scrimp on the entertainment/food/drink etc.

I suppose that overall they do have a positive impact on the local economy - spending more money than it costs to service their needs - but in a lot of cases they're actually a drain on our resources.

Source?

killerbeg

fontanalis wrote: »

Source?

Well I don't think we should be required to provide a 'Source' for supporting data on an opinion driven forum but surely it's obvious that someone who spends time and not money in an area is by definition a drain on the local resources? Unless of course they are the type of visitors who go around randomly fixing roads and mending broken street lights.:)

muffler

killerbeg wrote: »

Well I don't think we should be required to provide a 'Source' for supporting data on an opinion driven forum

Mod hat on: What was posted was a statement and not an opinion and people, whether they like it or not, are responsible for their posts and are entitled to be asked for a "source" where and when appropriate

muffler

Im just wondering would a poll be useful here?

slimboyfat

Found a report from 2006 http://www.wdc.ie/wp-content/uploads/reports_WR-KeyStatistics-Section-6.pdf , it shows that tourists spent over €67 million that year ( page 5 ) in the north west region ( which consists of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo ) and they accounted for over 20% of total tourist numbers to visit that region in that year.

To me these figures speak for themselves and anybody who says that they don't contribute to the Donegal economy is living cloud cuckoo land.

With the current state of the ecomony both here and in NI, naturally these figures will be dropping year on year but they still will spend money that is essential to the economy of Donegal.

fontanalis

killerbeg wrote: »

Well I don't think we should be required to provide a 'Source' for supporting data on an opinion driven forum but surely it's obvious that someone who spends time and not money in an area is by definition a drain on the local resources? Unless of course they are the type of visitors who go around randomly fixing roads and mending broken street lights.:)

It's my opinion you are addicted toblerones and once drove to Muff in your bare feet. No source needed.

Jaysoose

muffler wrote: »

Im just wondering would a poll be useful here?

Who has the bigger chip on their shoulder?

1. Donegal people
2. Northy tourists

Jaysoose

slimboyfat wrote: »

Found a report from 2006 http://www.wdc.ie/wp-content/uploads/reports_WR-KeyStatistics-Section-6.pdf , it shows that tourists spent over €67 million that year ( page 5 ) in the north west region ( which consists of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo ) and they accounted for over 20% of total tourist numbers to visit that region in that year.

To me these figures speak for themselves and anybody who says that they don't contribute to the Donegal economy is living cloud cuckoo land.

With the current state of the ecomony both here and in NI, naturally these figures will be dropping year on year but they still will spend money that is essential to the economy of Donegal.

But they bring their own liquor and pack lunches and spend nothing..well according to some random dude in this thread...scourge of donegal they are..or something

muffler

Firblog there's a time and a place and this is not it. Take it to PM if you wish.

I have now removed 3 posts from you. One was a duplicate, one was arguing with a mod on thread and the third was off topic.

No more of this please.

oranbhoy67

Looks like some people in this County ( hopefully a minority) want Donegal to be a local County for local people

theboss80

Well I live in Buncrana and its very close to the border and EVERY single warm sunny day Lisfannon beach is packed out with northerners, its before you even get to the town so the numbers that travel on into the town is very minimal and tbh the beach is left in an absolute mess by the end of the day with cans/bottles and nappies among other rubbish.
Its a popular beach any other day of the week for people out walking but is avoided for more secluded spots that maybe only locals know on these warm days.
That's what I've personally observed.

muffler

oranbhoy67 wrote: »

Looks like some people in this County ( hopefully a minority) want Donegal to be a local County for local people

Dont think it's exclusive to Donegal.

Firblog

fontanalis wrote: »

Source?

I believe some things are just self evident (this is my opinion):
a visitor/tourist who is involved in some incident and ends up in hospital will be a drain on the local resources: visitors/tourists who do not spend any money in the local economy and leave rubbish behind them are a drain on local resources.

slimboyfat

Firblog wrote: »

I believe some things are just self evident (this is my opinion):
a visitor/tourist who is involved in some incident and ends up in hospital will be a drain on the local resources: visitors/tourists who do not spend any money in the local economy and leave rubbish behind them are a drain on local resources.

Surely they must be spending something, like where are they staying, hotel, b&b, caravan or holiday home, they are paying someone in Donegal to stay in these places, therfore they are spending money.

Even the day trippers spend money, I am sure they buy ice creams from a shop, stop to get petrol, all this is contributing to the local economy.

To me your opinion is of a very negative one and of no benefit to people of Donegal, in these times when money is hard to come by, we should be weloming any tourists to Donegal and be greatfull that we get so many tourists from NI, if we didn't have them, there would be alot of people in Donegal out of work.

oranbhoy67

Well when i was working in the west of the county as a stonebuilder at least a third of our work (at the very least) was on Northern owned Holiday homes.. & these werent small jobs either & they where a lot better at paying us on time than most of the locals were!

In The Sticks

Waste of time so they are, they bring all their own alchol and food, and leave all their mess behind them. They build stone houses, but still bring everything with them

muffler

Even the stones?

oranbhoy67

If you could would you build a wall all round ole Donegal? The North & South to keep them out ..& would you build it tall??

& can i have the job please ??

paulmclaughlin

muffler wrote: »

Even the stones?

LOL!


No matter how hard you try to go to a place for a weekend without spending money, it's my belief that you still will. Sneaking drink into a restaurant, you're still paying for food. Bringing your own food to your holiday home, you're still gonna pay for petrol. Want a day at the beach, I guarantee you're still going to buy ice cream. At the end of the day, they still contribute to our economy, whether it's in a big or small way.

And how many of you can honestly say you haven't went to the north to save money on food and drink or haven't went to the off-licence to save money before going out for a night?

sollar

paulmclaughlin wrote: »

LOL!


No matter how hard you try to go to a place for a weekend without spending money, it's my belief that you still will. Sneaking drink into a restaurant, you're still paying for food. Bringing your own food to your holiday home, you're still gonna pay for petrol. Want a day at the beach, I guarantee you're still going to buy ice cream. At the end of the day, they still contribute to our economy, whether it's in a big or small way.

And how many of you can honestly say you haven't went to the north to save money on food and drink or haven't went to the off-licence to save money before going out for a night?

Maybe they spend enough to pay for the cleanup

Firblog

slimboyfat wrote: »

Surely they must be spending something, like where are they staying, hotel, b&b, caravan or holiday home, they are paying someone in Donegal to stay in these places, therfore they are spending money.

Even the day trippers spend money, I am sure they buy ice creams from a shop, stop to get petrol, all this is contributing to the local economy.

To me your opinion is of a very negative one and of no benefit to people of Donegal, in these times when money is hard to come by, we should be weloming any tourists to Donegal and be greatfull that we get so many tourists from NI, if we didn't have them, there would be alot of people in Donegal out of work.

I've never expected my opinion to be of benefit to anyone - an I'm fairly sure I'll be told it hasn't been - when money is tight or plentiful. I just started the thread to see were my observations about Northern tourists shared by others.
Now some people think differently and are quiet entitled to do so; just because some point to reports and still I believe what I believe does not mean that I'm living in cloud cuckoo land, I've not insulted anyone for believing differently to myself and would like that to be reciprocated

killerbeg

muffler wrote: »

Mod hat on: What was posted was a statement and not an opinion and people, whether they like it or not, are responsible for their posts and are entitled to be asked for a "source" where and when appropriate

Thanks Muffler, just remembered why I don't post on any of threads here. The 'statement' began with the words 'I suppose' and I don't think the tone of my post warranted Mod intervention. I guess I'll just continue to read your posts and keep my opinions to myself.

gigino

In The Sticks wrote: »

Waste of time so they are, they bring all their own alchol and food, and leave all their mess behind them.

Saw them sneaking drink in a pub too when I was on holidays in Donegal once too. However its their arrogant whining in the local shops there that takes the biscuit. I was on holidays in Donegal a number of years ago and they were trying to bargain down a small shop owner who , as he said later himself, never got to take holidays like the northeners do. Maybe its just the rude northners who come to the Republic, the other ones stay elsewhere. They lower the tone of places like Bundoran. Best to go to places in Donegal where there are not as many northeners. When in the north most people there do not seem as rude.

Scarlet42

gigino wrote: »

Saw them sneaking drink in a pub too when I was on holidays in Donegal once too. However its their arrogant whining in the local shops there that takes the biscuit. I was on holidays in Donegal a number of years ago and they were trying to bargain down a small shop owner who , as he said later himself, never got to take holidays like the northeners do. Maybe its just the rude northners who come to the Republic, the other ones stay elsewhere. They lower the tone of places like Bundoran. Best to go to places in Donegal where there are not as many northeners. When in the north most people there do not seem as rude.

Jees give them a break ... would you want to stay in belfast after this week???
I am from Belfast and live in Sligo.
Its not that they are leaving a mess on purpose .. its just the way they are, you wander around west belfast and the amount of rubbish on the street is embarassing .. they just dump their wrappers/papers at their feet! mostly in working class areas

North_West_Art

next time I see any of them sneaking drink into one of 'our' pubs, I will make a citizens arrest :pac: (Im joking, Im joking. this thread is ridiculous!)