Rough Guide to Ireland-S East insult!

road_high · 23-05-2006 2:37pm #1

Just read in todays Irish Times about what this guide had to say about Ireland, and in particular the s east;
They state that 'Co Carlow has almost negligible appeal, while counties Tipp and Waterford vie for the title of Ireland's dullest....'
The Co Waterford resort town of Tramore didnt escape either!;
descrided as ' surrounded by ghastly housing developments and the strand itself is marred by adjacent amusement arcades, caravan parks and fast-food outlets'.Visit out of season they suggest or not at all.

I think this is all grossly unfair and an insult to the people in these counties who've worked hard to develop and promote tourism.
Hoew could Carlow be described as having 'neg appeal'; it obviously must have as one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland.Did they not travel out around Mt. Leinster and see the lovely countryside?Or the really good nite life around the town.

West Waterford has some of the nicest (I say this as a KK person!!) in Ireland- what about places like the Vee, the nice beaches on the coast.Even Tramore has a very nice beach- at least its honest about what its trying to be- a fun place for families and is great if you get the weather.
And Tipp, what about the Rock Of Cashel?

I think this guide must have been written form a snobbish point of view; not everybody appreciates the fake atmosphere of so-called cosmopolitan places like Temple Bar!

Scoops · 23-05-2006 2:43pm

mfitzy wrote:

I think this guide must have been written form a snobbish point of view; not everybody appreciates the fake atmosphere of so-called cosmopolitan places like Temple Bar!

Temple Bar????? Cosmopolitan???? LOL have you ever been to Temple Bar?

road_high · 23-05-2006 2:47pm

Scoops wrote:

Temple Bar????? Cosmopolitan???? LOL have you ever been to Temple Bar?

Many many times(mostly passing through).Hate the place, full of poncy cafes and fake irish pubs for the tourists.I was just mentioning it cos i'm sure the 'rough guide' thought it was wonderful...

Scoops · 23-05-2006 2:50pm

mfitzy wrote:

Many many times(mostly passing through).Hate the place, full of poncy cafes and fake irish pubs for the tourists.I was just mentioning it cos i'm sure the 'rough guide' thought it was wonderful...

Yeah I guess your right! But I wouldn't use the words Temple Bar and Cosmopolitan in the same sentence! It's full of Stag Nights and Hen Partys not to mention some of the worst pubs in the Dublin!

Mossy Monk · 23-05-2006 3:11pm

a pretty scathing report on the south east :eek:

CiaranC · 23-05-2006 3:20pm

You provincials really get wound up by this sort of thing, dont you?

Tramore is a hovel. It should be bulldozed.

Carlow isnt too bad I suppose. Hardly a tourist hot-spot though, is it? I cant see our American cousins doing Europe; London-Paris-Rome-Carlow-Amsterdam-Berlin any time soon. Even Waterford city is so dull and nondescript as to be laughable.

road_high · 23-05-2006 5:58pm

CiaranC wrote:

You provincials really get wound up by this sort of thing, dont you?

Tramore is a hovel. It should be bulldozed.

Carlow isnt too bad I suppose. Hardly a tourist hot-spot though, is it? I cant see our American cousins doing Europe; London-Paris-Rome-Carlow-Amsterdam-Berlin any time soon. Even Waterford city is so dull and nondescript as to be laughable.

The typical Dublin attidude to the 'country' we all know is alive and well I see!!!
Carlow mightnt be Paris or New York but it even has many things to see and do for the tourist over a day or two...
Its just too easy for these guides to slag off places, and not compare like with like!Tramore mighnt be great but its still very very popular, despite all the snobbery that has crept into this country over the last 10/15 years.

The Mighty Zog · 28-05-2006 9:01pm

Interesting stuff!

Please describe in detail all of Carlow town's many attractions.

I've been there numerous times, but if it's worth hanging around for 20 rather than 10 minutes I'd be keen to know the reason.

Zog

road_high · 29-05-2006 11:34am

The Mighty Zog wrote:

Interesting stuff!

Please describe in detail all of Carlow town's many attractions.

I've been there numerous times, but if it's worth hanging around for 20 rather than 10 minutes I'd be keen to know the reason.

Zog

I'm not actually from Carlow but still have a lot of time for the place.Heres a link that describes it's attractions far better than I ever could;

http://www.carlowtourism.com/

fricatus · 29-05-2006 7:48pm

I must say that I also have a lot of time for Carlow. My perceptions of it were shaped for many years by travelling through it, between Waterford and Dublin, and seeing it as nothing more than a bottleneck.

Last summer though, I went to a wedding in the country nearby and stayed in the centre of Carlow that night. I spent the next morning hungover, walking the town and couldn't believe how nice it was, how welcoming the atmosphere was, and how good the shops were for a town of its size.

DMC · 29-05-2006 8:10pm

/me puts culchie hat on.... oooh arrr...

As someone who in the last few years has extensively travelled throughout the country, I do have to say that Carlow has zero appeal. That link that was given for Carlow Tourism highlight how little there is in the place. It has no landmark feature, like a Newgrange or beach. Speaking of beaches having also been in Tramore; great strand, but if you are not into slots and bumper cars, its not great. The first and last time I visited a place similar, its now a refugee/asylum holding centre.

Waterford is unappealing to a lot of tourists as its a 'mare to get through at the best of times, and once you get through it, you want to keep going on. Kilkenny has built up a very good local festival scene, with the Cat Laughs and other gigs.

But its not a disease limited to the "Sunny South East". There are plenty of central non-coastal counties that suffer the same disease that Carlow and Tipp suffer from.

Another reason is... its too close to places that are far enough away for an overnight stay. What I mean is, Cork, Galway, Clare, Mayo and Donegal are far enough away to make you look for a place to stay. For Dubs, the South East isn't all that far away. For the same reason, Dubs dont stay in Cavan, Meath or Kildare (they just emigrate there permanently!)

Just the views of a fellow provincial observer.

kano476 · 02-06-2006 8:08pm

I'm from tramore and yeah I agree the place is tack but thats just one part of the town. truth is it has an important place in the town for now. i know when im on holidays i stay a million miles away from places like it but fact is many people enjoy the amusements and such. maybe when the country becomes more cosmopolitan a big developer could come in and do a proper job on the place. its far from a "hovel" there are some fantastic spots in tramore unfortunately he just focused on the one part of it.

i cant see the southeast being dull fair enough carlow isnt a tourist town but it has good nightlife and shopping. kilkenny is a great place to go out in and theres plenty of things to see there. west waterford is a fantastic area of the country - beaches and mountains all that lark.

colm_mcm · 02-06-2006 8:14pm

In fairness, they are catering to tourists with this book, If I had only 2 weeks in Ireland, it'd be spent in the west, along the coast, through Kerry and west Cork. Clare, Galway and Mayo, the midlands simply doesn't have the same landscape or scenery as the west.

mike65 · 02-06-2006 10:29pm

Well I have'nt read the articles but I've lived here as an outsider for most of my life and would'nt have it any other way!

Tramore is not the place it used to be, its still a ritzy seaside town with all that implies while having grown hugly in population as a dormitory town for Waterford. Thats the way of life.

The county has I think some of Irelands best secret countryside. Anyone can waltz off to the tourist trap hellholes of Kerry but it takes wit to discover the splendid river vistas and villages of west Waterford and the same applies to Kilkenny, Carlow, Tipp and Wexford. While Waterfords coastal features are among the best in the country - just take a leisurly drive from Cheekpoint to Ardmore one day.

The beauty and charm are on a smaller scale than the Ring of Kerry or Conemara but no worse for it. In fact rather better as you are not sharing the idyll with hundreds of Yanks wearing inappropriate attire as you get fleesed by rapacious locals for knick-nack tat.

I can only guess the Lonely Planets core demographic has little or no interest in the finer things in life or hollidays.

Mike.

Schuhart · 05-06-2006 11:42am

I think there can be a bit of a knee jerk reaction this kind of criticism, with people feeling they have to defend their own corner regardless. Obviously any tourist guide is just someone’s opinion. On the other hand, there would seem to be concern that many traditional holiday locations around the country are not getting the numbers they used to.

Various criticisms are being made of the products offered – so this guide is not just a bolt from the blue, indeed it may simply be repeating the criticisms of others rather than stating anything original. The response from many involved in regional tourism seems to be a demand for more marketing expenditure. But there’s damn all point in spending on marketing if the product is shoddy.

If people are really interested in traditional resorts keeping, and even growing, their business then they’d want to start listening to the customer, instead of trying to shout down any criticism with inanely positive statements about their own little corner of the world.

Rough Guide to Ireland-S East insult!

Comments