Lorrha and Cloughjordan moving to the "Ireland's Hidden Heartlands" brand

IT was announced during a recent Council meeting that all of Nenagh Municipal District is moving to the Ireland's Hidden Heartlands brand.

This is a positive development and will include the villages of Lorrha and Cloughjordan, both of which were previously in the tourism brand of "Ireland's Ancient East".

Cllr Michael O'Meara commented that joining Ireland's Hidden Heartlands "is a huge plus for us. In the Rathcabbin/Lorrha region we have always had a natural affinity with our friends in Offaly, and with the tourism offerings they have there including Birr Castle and Lough Boora. Lough Derg of course also crosses county boundaries.

"We need to put together a package. We now have the critical mass in Ireland's Hidden Heartlands. It's exciting times."

Cllr Seamus Morris said the activity on social media regarding Tipperary's tourism offering has been "quite incredible. A picture paints a thousand words. It is spectacular. Fantastic photos on the websites and social media help so much to attract people. And we are seeing a lot of people coming to Tipperary as a result."

He asked for information on the proposed plan for a Dromineer Centre for Water Activities.

Cllr Ger Darcy pointed out that for many years the Council invested a lot of effort in trying to get tourism going, but it had always felt an uphill battle. "It's only really got going in the last few years.

"The Nenagh Tourism Office looks fantastic," said Cllr Joe Hannigan. "We are now seeing a very positive tourism plan being rolled out, building on things like the new tourism office. Only for Covid and Ukraine we would be driving the situation on with even greater aplomb."

"You couldn't find fault with Tipperary Tourism, with the promotion of tourism in the county," commented Cllr John Carroll. "It's very, very positive. We had Teach Ceoils some years ago. We have a lot of trad musicians and we should make more of that". (Teach Ceoils are based in pubs and community centres).

Marie Phelan, a member of the company "Tipperary Tourism", said Covid has focussed people's minds much more on the outdoors. "A lot of tourists want to do outdoor activities. A lot want to go hiking. The Tipperary.com website contains very practical information on accessible walks and where to park; and how you can get on the water. Before, a lot of our focus was on the heritage sites. Now we are trying to package the heritage sites with the outdoor activities."

"Sometimes you need hooks to get people into an area," commented Cllr Morris. "For example, Nenagh is a big destination for people who are organising weddings. A lot of people are coming to Nenagh to organise their weddings. And sports tourism. The GAA was founded in Tipperary. People would be enticed by packages to watch sports fixtures."