An Ireland Vacation - 10 things that they don't tell you!

We here are never less than honest in our appraisal of any subject relating to Ireland that we write about. This may appear very negative at times but that is only because the subject matter is negative. Where praise is due, we give without trace of inhibition or caveat. There is much to praise about Ireland and its people

This week however we focus on the negative. Perhaps it is the awful January weather that has us in bad form or the doom and gloom economic forecasts for 2008 which, if it all were to happen, will have us begging on the streets of some foreign land and giving our children away.

The greatest industry that we have is not technology or pharmaceuticals. It is not farming or financial services. It is tourism. It contributes more to the economy than any of the above sectors. Last year, 7.8 million people visited this wind and rain swept north Atlantic island of ours. They spent billions on accommodation, food and drink, leisure pursuits and souvenir and gift purchases. Most had a great time, went home, and told their friends all about it. Word of mouth is the greatest marketing tool.

Those who know these things estimate that a positive review of a trip, or any experience for that matter, will be relayed to 14 people who will act on the information. A negative review of the same experience will heard and noted by 87 people.

As the old saying goes in business - it takes twenty years to build a reputation and just one day to lose it. Ireland is no different.

As a country, Ireland has forged an enviable reputation as a great place to visit for the sights, the history, the craic, the pubs and, most importantly, the people. We are perceived as a laid back, easy-going race with a manana attitude, which bemuses most people visiting us. The fact that it is only perception and not reality anymore should concern us deeply. The obvious rebuttal to that point is to indicate the figures for tourists on an Ireland vacation last year. We must be doing something right, you say, and we are in many sectors of the tourism Ireland industry.

However, we are also taking for granted many aspects of our service to the visitor. A large proportion of the visitors to Ireland are from America. Many come looking for their roots and would not dream of visiting us were it not for that. We have the Famine and various economic depressions throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries up to the late eighties to thank for that, if that is indeed the appropriate word to use.

Compared to our European peers there is a considerable amount of ground to be made up if we are to keep eight million visitors a year coming to our country on an Ireland vacation. The trick is to get those visitors to come back again or recommend visiting Ireland to somebody they know.

Here are some reasons why they might come once, but never again.

1.Our deplorable behaviour and attitude to litter: We must rank as one of the dirtiest countries in the modern world. Walk through the streets of Dublin and our other towns and cities on a Monday morning (or indeed any morning) and your senses are assailed in every possible way by the smell and the sight of discarded fast food packaging, beer cans and bottles, chewing gum, condoms and pools of vomit. Have we no shame at all? What sort of an impression is that likely to make on a visitor to Ireland? It is not just the druggies and the drunks that litter. Schoolchildren from all strata of society seem to think that is acceptable to drop their disused receptacles at their feet as they walk along. Many adults behave the same way as though there should be a cleaner walking behind them gathering their cast offs. There seems to be an inbuilt hereditary flaw in the Irish psyche that deems it acceptable to litter and not think about the consequences. We need to become organized quickly because in any survey of a visitors experience in Ireland, the dirtiness of the Irish people is always near the top.

2.Crime, drink and drugs: These three vices are put together as one is generally associated with the other. It is not alone the visitor to Ireland that suffers from this behavior, our own citizens do also. We are not a pleasant people when we are encountered with drink and drugs. Granted, the vast majority of our communities are decent and caring. However, the minority causes all the harm and smears the upright citizen with the unacceptable residue of their boorish behavior. It is downright dangerous to walk the main streets of our cities and towns after 9 pm any night of the week. Hordes of menacing youths, high as kites with drugs and drink, terrify innocent pedestrians. Little or no protection is offered by squeamish Gardai who take the easy option by looking the other way and perhaps bravely put a ticket on your for a parking misdemeanor. Stabbings and muggings of tourists are common, a lot more common that we are led to believe. Hotels now advise the unwary visitor of where to go and where to stay. Taxi rides are advised rather than public transport because the risks of attack on this mode of transport are deemed high.

Ireland needs to fight fire with fire in this regard. Arm the police and stop this nonsense of what could be termed as a holistic approach to crime fighting. Two cops with batons are no threat to the gangs of thugs that terrorize our streets. Two cops with guns is a different matter!

These scumbags are cowards who operate based on safety, strength and heightened threat in numbers. They need to be confronted, not by unarmed police who fear for their lives, but by well-armed officers who will make the gurriers fear for their lives. We are all affected by this scourge, not just our tourists.

It is time to take action on behalf of all.

Items 3 and 4 to follow next week