Gabriel Byrne says the Gathering is a scam.

Jaysoose

One example of business entering into the spirit of things is the very generous offer from the K club of 4 rounds plus a gala dinner.

http://www.kclub.ie/gathering-2013

Play at The K Club, €475.00 per golfer

Golfers will enjoy:
4 rounds of golf at The K Club (inclusive of practice round)
Pre dinner Cocktail Party
Gala Dinner
Welcome gift
K Club Prizes

Not a mention of the fact that right now you can play any open comp for €55 a go which means they are looking for eejits to pay €255 for a 3 course meal...thats entering into the rip off spirit of the Gathering alright.

Degringola

Bring over Yanks and then sneer at them behind their backs (stupid, fat, insular etc.)?

Bring over Irish living in UK and then bully their children for their English accents?

Key UK registered cars?

Label them Plastic Paddies?

Great idea!

ejmaztec

Irish government "We're sorry that you all had to leave the country because the only jobs we created were our own, but can you come to the gathering with your new found wealth so we can fleece the arse off you"

geeky

realies wrote: »

From the Dawn of Time we came, moving silently down through the centuries. Living many secret lives. Struggling to reach the Time of the Gathering, when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you...until now.

Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez



"There can be only one,"

I'd brave a transatlantic flight to watch that.

JohnMarston

realies wrote: »

From the Dawn of Time we came, moving silently down through the centuries. Living many secret lives. Struggling to reach the Time of the Gathering, when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you...until now.

Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez



"There can be only one,"

Heeeeeeeerrre we are, born to be Kings!....

mitosis

Gabriel Byrne's accent is the real scam.

ejmaztec

geeky wrote: »

I'd brave a transatlantic flight to watch that.

The main event is taking place in Swords.

geeky

ejmaztec wrote: »

The main event is taking place in Swords.

Or O'Connell Street

Honestly, I think we should make more of our capacity for primitively-armed brutality. People love that sh*t.

meoklmrk91

It's not a scam, it's a tourism campaign. One which will fail miserably but sure anyway, does anyone even know anyone who is coming home for this? Most everyone I know doesn't even know what the fecking gathering is.

Mansized Wreath

Irish people would sicken yer ****e with their negativity. Grow da fock up.

Wile E. Coyote

There's no pleasing some people. You all just love to moan and complain.

This country relies heavily on tourism and any idea/event that gets additional people to these shores and spending money is a good thing. More tourists = more jobs in the hospitality sector = less people on the dole = more money all round. It's not rocket science.

Fair enough it's not one of the best thought out ideas but it has potential. Instead of moaning and b*tching on line why don't you do something to organize events in your communities? Make it a proper event that people will remember so they don't consider it a scam!

Pippy1976

Oh my God, I really agree with this. They're Irish when it suits them - which most of the time is when they've got nothing positive to say about the country at all.

We're only trying to do our best... feck off Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson et al. You don't live here, you've no idea so get back to L.A. and spend your millions there - boring, negative, and downright insulting to be honest.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Personally I'm sick of this pr*ck and others like him, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson......popping back over here once every two years, appear on the Late Late Show or whatever, and lecture us on what a ****-hole it is and what a **** job we are doing with a country that he chooses not to live in..........

There were plenty of people here in this country questioning the gathering but they never made it to the front page of the Indo.

But some pr*ck who makes good in Amerikay, sucking on the tit of the worlds most unequal democracy, where 43 million people are food stamps...... well they gotta be listened to.....

To be honest, i'd blame the media for giving him exposure......everyones entitled to their opinion.....but for some reason his is up there in lights all the time.

maximoose

geeky wrote: »

Or O'Connell Street


Honestly, I think we should make more of our capacity for primitively-armed brutality. People love that sh*t.

Round them all up, have a Battle Royale/Hunger games style event in Phoenix Park. Entertainment and cleaning the city at the same time.

Can call it The Bobby Sands Games.

billybudd

Tourism in general is a scam, Even the ex public sector workers cant help but giving out.

I actually think the gathering is the best tourism marketing idea from this country in a long time.

Pippy1976

Mansized Wreath wrote: »

Irish people would sicken yer ****e with their negativity. Grow da fock up.

Again, thumbs up. Y'know we're such a nation of begrudgers and moaners. Fair enough the government got us into the mess we're in and us, the lowly workers of the country, have to get us out of it - which we moan about pretty much 24/7 365 days a year.

Then, when Tourism Ireland launch a campaign to bring tourists into the country and spend and therefore boost the economy we're feckin' moaning about that too.

Jesus, we're never happy and it's SO tiring to listen to. As someone who lived abroad for years and has come home honest to God lads you've no idea how lovely it is here. Shut up moaning, giving out, get on with things and get over it.

It's tourism at the end of the day. If the campaign wasn't called The Gathering it'd be called something else - T.I. are only doing their job.

Míshásta

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

There's no pleasing some people. You all just love to moan and complain.

This country relies heavily on tourism and any idea/event that gets additional people to these shores and spending money is a good thing. More tourists = more jobs in the hospitality sector = less people on the dole = more money all round. It's not rocket science.

Fair enough it's not one of the best thought out ideas but it has potential. Instead of moaning and b*tching on line why don't you do something to organize events in your communities? Make it a proper event that people will remember so they don't consider it a scam!

Nothing wrong with encouraging tourists. But please treat them with a bit of respect. Why sould anyone visit Ireland because of a think-tank PR exercise called the Gathering.

Just another "St. Arthur's day" type goofy promotion.

Should be called "THE BLATHERING"

My relatives abroad are always welcome to visit, why should 2013 be any different.

Hannibal Smith

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Personally I'm sick of this pr*ck and others like him, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson......popping back over here once every two years, appear on the Late Late Show or whatever, and lecture us on what a ****-hole it is and what a **** job we are doing with a country that he chooses not to live in..........

There were plenty of people here in this country questioning the gathering but they never made it to the front page of the Indo.

But some pr*ck who makes good in Amerikay, sucking on the tit of the worlds most unequal democracy, where 43 million people are food stamps...... well they gotta be listened to.....

To be honest, i'd blame the media for giving him exposure......everyones entitled to their opinion.....but for some reason his is up there in lights all the time.

Well said

billybudd

Míshásta wrote: »

Nothing wrong with encouraging tourists. But please treat them with a bit of respect. Why sould anyone visit Ireland because of a think-tank PR exercise called the Gathering.

Just another "St. Arthur's day" type goofy promotion.

Should be called "THE BLATHERING"

My relatives abroad are always welcome to visit, why should 2013 be any different.

Well you see we are in competition against the world regarding tourism and with a world wide reccession going on with a few exceptions then we need to up our game in terms of selling our country to people abroad, its like opening a shop and expecting customers rather than working hard to get customers, like it or not alot of people are huegly influenced by marketing.

Wile E. Coyote

Míshásta wrote: »

Nothing wrong with encouraging tourists. But please treat them with a bit of respect. Why sould anyone visit Ireland because of a think-tank PR exercise called the Gathering.

Just another "St. Arthur's day" type goofy promotion.

And how exactly would you entice people to come here and spend money without doing some PR and marketing? Campaigns like this work when organized correctly and Arthur's Day (as ridiculous as it is) is a perfect example of that.

Nikkio237

Ok, I'm sorry, but as an ex-pat, I can't believe how negative people are being about this. My dad's working in Canada, aunts and uncles in England, another in San Francisco. Cousins spread around the world as well, and myself in Wales. I get home maybe 2-3 times a year, and it's rare that I'm home the same time as all my family. Last time I saw dad was in July, and before that last Christmas. Bear in mind that my parents are still together, and my mother's barely able to see him more than me.

I think the Gathering is a fantastic idea. So what if it's a tourist trap? It's an excuse to bring everyone home and maybe catch up with people I haven't been able to see in years. Stop being so fecking negative and maybe think about inviting that best friend who's had no choice but to emigrate home for a bit.

The Oirish Yanks are going to come to Ireland anyway. They don't need the Gathering as an excuse. How about instead of whining about them, we turn this into something real and actually bring everyone home for a party?

SafeSurfer

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

There's no pleasing some people. You all just love to moan and complain.

This country relies heavily on tourism and any idea/event that gets additional people to these shores and spending money is a good thing. More tourists = more jobs in the hospitality sector = less people on the dole = more money all round. It's not rocket science.

Fair enough it's not one of the best thought out ideas but it has potential. Instead of moaning and b*tching on line why don't you do something to organize events in your communities? Make it a proper event that people will remember so they don't consider it a scam!

I depend for a living on the tourism industry. My objection to "The Gathering" is that it is targeting the Irish diaspora around the world.

Over 70 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry. The Gathering
Ireland 2013 provides the perfect excuse to reach out to those who have moved
away, their relatives, friends and descendants, and invite them
home.

Taken from the Gathering website.

If this reaching out was done in conjunction with something meaningful like extending voting rights to some of the hundreds of thousands of people that have emigrated since the start of the recession then I would not be cynical about it.

We cannot have it both ways. Inviting people "home" to spend their money without giving them any input into how their "home" is run is just a cynical money grabbing exercise.

Many countries with much smaller diasporas than Ireland's allow their emigrants to vote. If we want to cherish them and invite them home then lets at least show them that they are valued.

bgrizzley

Nikkio237 wrote: »

Ok, I'm sorry, but as an ex-pat, I can't believe how negative people are being about this. My dad's working in Canada, aunts and uncles in England, another in San Francisco. Cousins spread around the world as well, and myself in Wales. I get home maybe 2-3 times a year, and it's rare that I'm home the same time as all my family. Last time I saw dad was in July, and before that last Christmas. Bear in mind that my parents are still together, and my mother's barely able to see him more than me.

I think the Gathering is a fantastic idea. So what if it's a tourist trap? It's an excuse to bring everyone home and maybe catch up with people I haven't been able to see in years. Stop being so fecking negative and maybe think about inviting that best friend who's had no choice but to emigrate home for a bit.

The Oirish Yanks are going to come to Ireland anyway. They don't need the Gathering as an excuse. How about instead of whining about them, we turn this into something real and actually bring everyone home for a party?

You and your family are welcome home a hundred thousand times, i just dont want to see you ripped off in my name...

turnfan

Nikkio237 wrote: »

Ok, I'm sorry, but as an ex-pat, I can't believe how negative people are being about this. My dad's working in Canada, aunts and uncles in England, another in San Francisco. Cousins spread around the world as well, and myself in Wales. I get home maybe 2-3 times a year, and it's rare that I'm home the same time as all my family. Last time I saw dad was in July, and before that last Christmas. Bear in mind that my parents are still together, and my mother's barely able to see him more than me.

I think the Gathering is a fantastic idea. So what if it's a tourist trap? It's an excuse to bring everyone home and maybe catch up with people I haven't been able to see in years. Stop being so fecking negative and maybe think about inviting that best friend who's had no choice but to emigrate home for a bit.

The Oirish Yanks are going to come to Ireland anyway. They don't need the Gathering as an excuse. How about instead of whining about them, we turn this into something real and actually bring everyone home for a party?

Totally agree with this. Trying something new to encourage people to come home. I'm sure there will be some big events, just a pity they have not been announced yet.

Why be so negative about something that's trying to improve the country?

Aidric

I prefer this story about squirrels.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/fimbles/stories/fimbles-nutsnutsnuts/

Nuts, Nuts, Nuts!
Listen to the story about Small Squirrel and his granny gathering nuts for the winter.

Pippy1976

bgrizzley wrote: »

You and your family are welcome home a hundred thousand times, i just dont want to see you ripped off in my name...

How are they being ripped off? She hasn't (oops, I just assumed she was female) indicated in any way that they're / she is being ripped off?

Tourism Ireland have to run campaigns. Countries need to make money. Tourists can spend as much or as little as they see fit.

And as someone else has asked... why be so negative about something that's probably going to affect the country in a positive way? In my opinion the answer is: because the Irish love giving out.. about EVERYTHING.

Also, it's nothing like Arthur's day - that's being invented by a beer company to boost sales of their individual product. It's simply not the same at all.

mongol

Does nobody see tourism as a necessary industry in this at this time that does need to be marketed, promoted and expanded.
Believe it or not tourists general enjoy their experience in Ireland. The like the cliffs, the castles, the paddywhakery tours, the pour your own pint. They even like the touristy pubs. These places are designed like this because that is what tourists want and what is wrong these things adding to their holiday. Maybe you don't go on shilileagh shopping expeditions but you're not throwing out your shot glass collection, eiffel tower keyring, I love New York t-shirt not to mention cheap toursity crap you've bought for other people.
Now maybe the gathering isn't the greastest or best thought out idea ever. I haven't paid it as much heed as I should and should probably take a look at how it's been marketed abroad where it matters but all I am seeing here are negative comments with no one stating what they believe would be a positive path instead.
People are saying it's a scam, that the country is fleecing visitors.
Of course people will be paying for food, lodging and entertainment and what is wrong that. That is normally how industry works. I don't see all this money being shoveled into wallets of 'the elite' or the fat cats' (fat cats? really?) but more likely some should find it's way into 'joe soaps' pockets (joe soap! for the love of all that etc). There are a limited amount of the elite running B&Bs, cafes, restaurants, tours, museums, galleries, adventure centres, newsagents, playing concerts, driving buses or taxis, preparing or serving food and drink, giving tours and on and on.
So why would you not put a bit of thought before negative comments. Maybe offer a better idea. Or here's one. Why don't you invite some family member, distant relative, friend or acquaintance over to visit this beautiful country ( yeah yeah this is a ****hole, begrudgrey, ripoff ireland, dirty ireland, misery agus beal bocht). Be welcoming to them. Show them around. Show them things in the place you like. There must be something. Maybe even be a tourist in your own country for a bit and see if there's somehing for you you might have missed. Not because of the gathering but maybe you're a nice person who might enjoy it. Maybe you're a prick and wouldn't enjoy it. That's ok too.

As for Gabriel Byrne. The usual suspects was a long time ago and he was ****e in that too. Good movie though.

bgrizzley

Pippy1976 wrote: »

How are they being ripped off? She hasn't (oops, I just assumed she was female) indicated in any way that they're / she is being ripped off?

Tourism Ireland have to run campaigns. Countries need to make money. Tourists can spend as much or as little as they see fit.

And as someone else has asked... why be so negative about something that's probably going to affect the country in a positive way? In my opinion the answer is: because the Irish love giving out.. about EVERYTHING.

Also, it's nothing like Arthur's day - that's being invented by a beer company to boost sales of their individual product. It's simply not the same at all.

Is'nt this the same crowd that were involved in selling Certificates of Oirishness?
And you think this isnt a way to rip off tourists.
the gathering my @rse.

Fishooks12

WileyCoyote wrote: »

Well said that man, it's about time someone called this what it actually is, another attempt to shake down and rip off the "Oirish" abroad!
No doubt the government hope it will do better than their failed "Certificate of Irish Heritage" scam.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1106/the-gathering-gabriel-byrne.html

It's "Irish"


Why people think these idiotic self loathing mis-spellings are funny I'll never know

McG

I'd have called it a "cynical marketing ploy" but at the same time tourism is incredibly important to the economy so why not give it a go.... it's nowhere near as bad as "Arthur's day".

Pippy1976

bgrizzley wrote: »

Is'nt this the same crowd that were involved in selling Certificates of Oirishness?
And you think this isnt a way to rip off tourists.
the gathering my @rse.

I have no idea so can't comment. Have you got another idea that Tourism Ireland could have come up with? We'd love to hear it. Or have you any positive things to say, at all?