Hurling could boost tourism - Thompson

Councillor Thompson said: “Gaelic games are unique to the island of Ireland and the sports are thought to pre-date the documented history of the island. A recent survey of tourists, conducted in counties Antrim, Tyrone, Derry and Donegal revealed that only 12.3% were aware of gaelic games but that 68% would be interested in watching Ireland’s indigenous sports.

“In Moyle hurling would be the most popular sport, championship matches regularly attract crowds of several thousand who come to enjoy the spectacle. Hurling is the fastest field game in the world and I know from personal experience that any tourists who do get to attend a match always leave in awe of the speed at which the game is played and the skill levels of the players.

“Several teams from Moyle, down through the years have given performances of note at not just provincial but national level and this is something that all the people of Moyle should be immensely proud off and want to showcase to tourists.

“However, tourist information providers need to give gaelic games the promotional platform that they deserve, I called into a local tourist information centre today and checked five information leaflets about The Causeway Coast and Moyle and none of them had any information on gaelic games in the area.

“I am sure that with some positive marketing giving information about gaelic games we would see an increase in visitor numbers to the area and this in turn would help local businesses. I will be writing to our tourist information providers and asking them that in future any publications they release include information on gaelic games,” said Cllr Thompson.