REACTION IN SOUTH:THE NEWS that Queen Elizabeth is to visit Cork city and the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary during her official State visit in May has received a broad welcome from business and political leaders in both counties.
Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Michael O’Connell said he welcomed the visit by the Queen, who is expected to tour both the English Market in the city centre and the National Tyndall Institute during the visit to Leeside.
“It will be a great boost not just for Cork city but for the southwest region as it will really bring us world attention and help promote us as a tourist destination,” said Mr O’Connell who wrote to British ambassador Julian King last month to invite the Queen to the city.
Cork Chamber chief executive Conor Healy said that the visit, the first to Cork by a British monarch since 1903 when King Edward VII attended the Great Exhibition, would help cement trade and business links including tourism between Cork and Britain.
“We welcome the visit from a business perspective – the UK is obviously a major export market for Irish business and traditionally a strong tourist market which has declined somewhat in recent years and this gives us an opportunity to promote the Cork region and win back that business.
“I think it’s also very positive that she’s visiting the Tyndall which is a leading international research centre and its inclusion on her itinerary is a significant recognition of the work done there and hopefully will lead to greater interaction with British companies in research areas.”
Meanwhile in Co Tipperary, Fianna Fáil Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú said the news that Queen Elizabeth was due to visit the Rock of Cashel would generate huge interest. “I know Cashel Town Council was anxious that she would come and I’m pretty sure they will give her a special cead mile fáilte.”
However, newly elected Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD, Jonathan O’Brien, was critical of the visit, describing it as “premature” and said Sinn Féin would hold “a counter event” to celebrate the city’s republican culture and traditions.
There was disappointment in Kerry where there had been sustained attempts over the past year by tourism interests to secure a visit to Killarney, in particular, by Queen Elizabeth.
The trustees of Muckross House in Killarney had issued a formal invitation asking her to follow in the footsteps of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, whose stay there in 1861 led to the growth of tourism in Killarney.
