WILLY WONKA has nothing on Irish snack foods king Ray Coyle, who is planning to open a €6.5 million animal sanctuary beside his crisp factory in Ashbourne, Co Meath.
Coyle, whose Largo Foods company makes Tayto, King and Hunky Dorys crisps, is hoping the economy will have turned by the time his sanctuary opens to the public in May 2010.
"The idea is to support the brands," he told me. "We want people to visit and have a good day out with the family and hopefully we'll break even."
Coyle has landscaped 60 acres of land beside the factory and plans to put 18 species on view, alongside shops, restaurants and children's play areas.
He's even dug out a lake for the park, which will have a rustic feel. Tours of the crisp factory are planned as part of the family day out.
There won't be any Oompa-Loompas in Coyle's centre but he is slowly piecing together a varied menagerie.
Coyle has had a herd of buffalo grazing in the area for a number of years and plans to add bears, snow leopards, pumas, birds of prey and other wild animals to the mix, along with a pet's corner and 3.6km of walkway.
"We're hoping to get 150,000-160,000 visitors a year but we might do even better," he says.
And the name?
"We might call it Hunky Dory Way or the Tayto Experience," he says, straight-faced.
You couldn't make it up. Unless you were Roald Dahl.
