All advertising is free till May 1st 2008. Please contact Webmaster@CraicOn.com

Moville Events targets Greenock

Posted Tuesday, June 17, 2008

 E-mail this page    Printer-friendly page

Moville Events

I will be going to Greenock in the West of Scotland from Thursday to Sunday of this week on behalf of Moville Events to help publicise what is going on in Moville and to rekindle the special relationship that Greenock and Moville had in the days before The Troubles.

There used to be three boatloads of people arriving a week from Scotland at Moville pier on a boat called the Laird's Loch.

Big Connection

Many of those were coming from Greenock.

There has been a big connection between Moville and Greenock and many Movillians live in Greenock and there are several Greenockians living in Moville (myself included).

It used to be that Moville was packed out with hoildaymakers, mostly from the West of Scotland, all the way through the summer.

That was in the days when people used to come to Moville for a couple of weeks' holiday rather than just a weekend or even just for the day as it mostly is now.

Moville houses used to be full of 'Scotch People' as they are called here, and the coffers of Movillians were well filled by what they spent when they were here.

As one local said "one Scotch bus is worth three from Dublin as far as spending locally is concerned".

Come On Back

Now, Moville Events have sent me across to say "The Troubles are over. Moville is still here and it's putting on a some great festivals and events- and it's still the great little town it was".

I have a meeting arranged with the Provost of Greenock, Michael McCormick.

The Provost has two roles.

He is the equivalent of a Mayor but he is also the head of the Town Council.

I will be meeting him at the Greenock Council offices at 10am on Friday, June 20th to tell him about Moville's festivals and Events.

He is inviting a photographer from the Greenock Telegraph to come along.

Telegraph Article

I've also been in touch with the Editor of the Greenock Telegraph, Wendy Metcalfe, who thinks that an article in the Telegraph on the basis of the old relationship between Moville and Greenock and on what Moville is doing now.

The Telegraph is the only evening newspaper in Inverclyde, which has a population of 90,000 of which Greenock has around 50,000.

It's catchment area is Inverclyde and beyond.

Hopefully, working with hotels in Moville like the Foyle and Caiseal Mara and with Greenock transport companies, we can start to see more people from the West of Scotland, starting with Greenock and the rest of Inverclyde like Port Glasgow and Gourock, coming back to Moville.

Wouldn't it be great to see Moville thriving again and packed full of holidaymakers all during the summer and on weekends during the rest of the year?

Cecilia Keaveney

Local representative, Cecilia Keaveney, gave her blessing to the Movilel Events project and said:-

"We are very aware in Donegal of our special links with Scotland. While many of our people went to work there in the past there was also those who came to visit us as tourists. I remember the Oban ferry that came into Moville for years and the great excitement.

“The Scotch Fairs were also talked about. Nowadays the idea of a link up for golf tourism or for new tourism and economic ventures are being pressed by growing work between what was IRDL and the Scottish parliament.

“I have been glad to be able to assist, through my work on the British/Irish inter-parliamentary body to highlight some possibilities, define some similarities and introduce people of like minds who wish to progress aich opportunities.

“I was part of the first Irish delegation to be formally invited to the new devolved parliament. The interest that the Scottish parliamentarians had in the fact I was from Donegal and their affinity to the location is something which still remains to be fully re ignited in more practical terms.

“I commend existing initiatives and trust the proposed visit will be another step on the path to bedding down the process of welcoming more of our neighbours."