"The Gathering"

Judgement Day

Actor Gabriel Byrne, formerly a cultural ambassador for Ireland, who quit last year after only one year of a three year stint, lashed "The Gathering" on Matt Cooper's Today FM programme this evening. Coming on top of comments by Ryan Air earlier today it confirms my worst suspicions that 'The Gathering' is going to be another Failte Ireland fiasco. You can bet their top executives have had lots of junkets out it. :rolleyes:

http://www.thegatheringireland.com/

Dob74

Judgement Day wrote: »

Actor Gabriel Byrne, formerly a cultural ambassador for Ireland, who quit last year after only one year of a three year stint, lashed "The Gathering" on Matt Cooper's Today FM programme this evening. Coming on top of comments by Ryan Air earlier today it confirms my worst suspicions that 'The Gathering' is going to be another Failte Ireland fiasco. You can bet their top executives have had lots of junkets out it. :rolleyes:

http://www.thegatheringireland.com/

Ireland is a rip off.
Americans have been complaining about Irish prices. So why not do something about that.
Hotels in Dublin are priced fairly well but the of the country is to expensive.
How about giving tourists a break on hotels. The bank's and nama own plenty of them.
Time to drop the rates. Then people will come.

mattthemiller

The company my friend works for has a different and less negative view of Tha Gathering. The Gathering is an attempt to re-inject the Irish Economy with revenue from tourism. People need to stop negativity and pull together. I do not like the crowd in charge but The Gathering is something that can work (provided it is given a chance is all)

coolhull

[QUOTE The Gathering is an attempt to re-inject the Irish Economy with revenue from tourism. ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:83[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Or, to put it another way, ''lets rip off the tourists''

mattthemiller

The company he works for is a small company (Celtic Link) in Wexford. He tells me that they are transporting tourist vehicles from France to Ireland for €1. This includes a cabin too.. €1 is not ripping people off. They can carry 1000 people at once that will be a great injection for econonmy!

coolhull

Did he also tell you that the ferry companies in Rosslare pay most of their staff at or below the minimum wage?

mattthemiller

coolhull wrote: »

Did he also tell you that the ferry companies in Rosslare pay most of their staff at or below the minimum wage?

I know he does not earn min. wage or anything near it (i would not say so anyway). I'm pretty sure it is illegal not to pay people that. Your being unnecessarily cynical about it.

avalon68

I lived abroad until very recently and never heard one word about this "gathering" until I got back in Ireland........shouldnt they actually be advertising abroad rather than having adds in the radio every 5 min within Ireland??

avalon68

coolhull wrote: »

Did he also tell you that the ferry companies in Rosslare pay most of their staff at or below the minimum wage?

As a private company they can set the rates to whatever they want. If people dont like it, they can go and work somewhere else if they want to. It really doesnt have anything to do with the gathering though.....

mattthemiller

The message is being sent to the people of Ireland so they encourage their friends and family to come back to Ireland. I can only guess that family encouragement would work one thousand times better than an over priced advert in the United States or elsewhere. Only time will tell I suppose..

washman3

The Gathering...!!!!!!! Failte Ireland's equivelant of the car scrappage scheme.;)
A boost in 'hard times' for the vested interests.

avalon68

mattthemiller wrote: »

The message is being sent to the people of Ireland so they encourage their friends and family to come back to Ireland. I can only guess that family encouragement would work one thousand times better than an over priced advert in the United States or elsewhere. Only time will tell I suppose..

How many people have you told? Despite having many friends and lots of family, noone uttered a word of it to me. Looking at the diaspora in broad strokes - this generation that has just left wont be back anytime soon; the people most likely to take the time and have the money to come are the retired people who may no longer have any direct connections with people in Ireland. Many people around the world will tell you how irish they are, despite never having met an irish person before - unless there is some active campaign to entice these people, I dont see it working tbh. Even with a campaign, they would need to seriously subsidize the prices of flights and hotels. Ireland is an expensive place to visit.

mattthemiller

Granted.. It is expensive as a whole. But great strides have been taken in recent years (and I have no political aligence). Hotels are amongst the best quality and best value in Europe. My friend's company are bringing in people for €1 for Paddy's Day. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Its still October.

bbsrs

mattthemiller wrote: »

Granted.. It is expensive as a whole. But great strides have been taken in recent years (and I have no political aligence). Hotels are amongst the best quality and best value in Europe. My friend's company are bringing in people for €1 for Paddy's Day. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Its still October.

It is November .Bringing in people for €1 please elaborate, I'd like to know from where and how.

Cookie_Monster

so I'm coming back to Ireland next year to get married, bringing people from all over the world etc etc. Are Failte Ireland going to give me any money for bringing in 50+ tourists for them as part of this scam scheme?

avalon68

mattthemiller wrote: »

Granted.. It is expensive as a whole. But great strides have been taken in recent years (and I have no political aligence). Hotels are amongst the best quality and best value in Europe. My friend's company are bringing in people for €1 for Paddy's Day. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Its still October.

Id have to disagree on the hotels - Ive stayed in several in the last few weeks in Ireland and the UK - the quality is comparable between both countries, but the price is a lot cheaper in the UK. Additionally room service, breakfast etc is a lot cheaper in the uk. A few weeks back I stayed in Cork - 110 for the room for the night - mid week. Thats crazy expensive

Judgement Day

mattthemiller wrote: »

Granted.. It is expensive as a whole. But great strides have been taken in recent years (and I have no political aligence). Hotels are amongst the best quality and best value in Europe. My friend's company are bringing in people for €1 for Paddy's Day. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Its still October.

Anything to back this up or is this just more of the old guff like 'everybody loves the Irish' or 'we have the best educated young people in the World' etc.etc.?

gozunda

mattthemiller wrote: »

The message is being sent to the people of Ireland so they encourage their friends and family to come back to Ireland. I can only guess that family encouragement would work one thousand times better than an over priced advert in the United States or elsewhere. Only time will tell I suppose..

I find the whole concept of a 'Gathering' highly cynical tbh. It smacks of inviting your friends over for tea only for the purpose of emptying their wallets. All under the guise of the lovely ol friendly Oirish .

- get the 'diaspora' over here and relieve them of their cash in a 1000 highly imaginative ways....

Instead of bothering about any of that how about we get them to the airport and just mug them instead? At least that's a bit more honest imo. Or how about the implementation of a 'you have moved abroad and earned some money Tax' - at least that is more transparent in its aims...

Inviting past citizens, that had to flee this country because of being screwed, back to be screwed again is at best highly imaginative money making scam and at worst the most disgusting attempt at purse snatching that I have came across

ThunbergsAreGo

Judgement Day wrote: »

Anything to back this up or is this just more of the old guff like 'everybody loves the Irish' or 'we have the best educated young people in the World' etc.etc.?

Dont have a link but have heard that irish hotels are amoongst the best priced in Europe

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

Actor Gabriel Byrne, formerly a cultural ambassador for Ireland, who quit last year after only one year of a three year stint, lashed "The Gathering" on Matt Cooper's Today FM programme this evening. Coming on top of comments by Ryan Air earlier today it confirms my worst suspicions that 'The Gathering' is going to be another Failte Ireland fiasco. You can bet their top executives have had lots of junkets out it. :rolleyes:

So what Gabriel if Byrne says that? No idea what he was doing in the role anyway. He's a (particularly poor, I'd say) actor. Not a diplomat. Not an ambassador.
The thinking behind this venture is excellent, in my opinion. Something is being done to give the island a shot in the arm regarding this particular area (tourism, foreign trade). Instead of moping about the 'diaspora' as if they were sent away on coffin ships at gunpoint, an attempt to engage with them and degrees of seperation about them.

BFDCH.

once we get them back here we can treat them like **** because they don't have an irish accent anymore and make them pay dearly for having an affinity with Oirland.

bbsrs

Why don't we just send little cardboard charity boxes to all the US school children once a year as a collection for the Emerald Isle.

mattthemiller

I can well understand Ireland's (or Oirland as people like saying here) position is not ideal. But Ireland can only play the hand that it has now. Once there is some degree of emotinal "buy-in" by the people of Ireland this has the potential to be great. :rolleyes:

Black Smoke

avalon68 wrote: »

Id have to disagree on the hotels - Ive stayed in several in the last few weeks in Ireland and the UK - the quality is comparable between both countries, but the price is a lot cheaper in the UK. Additionally room service, breakfast etc is a lot cheaper in the uk. A few weeks back I stayed in Cork - 110 for the room for the night - mid week. Thats crazy expensive

Just proves, you are lazy and foolish. I stay regularly in hotels in Cork. Midweek and otherwise. Never once paid €110. Not once. Could have, if I wanted to, but didn't want and didn't need to. Plenty good hotels and rooms available much cheaper.
Price a lot cheaper in UK????????????? No way Jose!! Much more expensive, on the average. I know, I stay regularly on business. Same to be said about France and Germany!
I'm in no way connected to hotel industry, just a customer.

JustinDee

avalon68 wrote: »

Id have to disagree on the hotels - Ive stayed in several in the last few weeks in Ireland and the UK - the quality is comparable between both countries, but the price is a lot cheaper in the UK. Additionally room service, breakfast etc is a lot cheaper in the uk. A few weeks back I stayed in Cork - 110 for the room for the night - mid week. Thats crazy expensive

Shop around.
If you're going to compare a hotel in Cork with an hotel in the UK, try comparing like with like, by the way. Not a Travelodge in Swindon or The Hanging Dog Inn in Acton.

Tefral

Black Smoke wrote: »

Just proves, you are lazy and foolish. I stay regularly in hotels in Cork. Midweek and otherwise. Never once paid €110. Not once. Could have, if I wanted to, but didn't want and didn't need to. Plenty good hotels and rooms available much cheaper.
Price a lot cheaper in UK????????????? No way Jose!! Much more expensive, on the average. I know, I stay regularly on business. Same to be said about France and Germany!
I'm in no way connected to hotel industry, just a customer.

I fly back and forth every week to London, the hotels there are sh!t compared to the ones in Dublin and easily twice the price.

avalon68

Black Smoke wrote: »

Just proves, you are lazy and foolish.

:rolleyes:

Im neither lazy, nor foolish thank you. I choose the convenience of staying near where I need to be for meetings. It doesnt particulary matter that I paid 110 euro for a hotel in cork (booked via expedia by the way), what matters is that a hotel in cork is charging that.

avalon68

JustinDee wrote: »

Shop around.
If you're going to compare a hotel in Cork with an hotel in the UK, try comparing like with like, by the way. Not a Travelodge in Swindon or The Hanging Dog Inn in Acton.

Comparing two Jurys hotels, both in large cities. The one in the UK is far cheaper - almost, but not quite half the price

jank

It is true in one sense what Byrne says about the diaspora being spat upon time and again. We are just used as some sort of green ATM, to extract money from for being good patriots yet get zero in return. Ireland always goes on about its status in the world and its wide flung diaspora yet treats it like ****.

Black Smoke

avalon68 wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Im neither lazy, nor foolish thank you. I choose the convenience of staying near where I need to be for meetings. It doesnt particulary matter that I paid 110 euro for a hotel in cork (booked via expedia by the way), what matters is that a hotel in cork is charging that.

Using expedia, you no doubt were given a wide choice of hotels, at various price levels.
You chose an expensive one, when you could have chosen otherwise. That's ok. That's your choice.
Complaining about it on here, makes no sense.
People with negative (everything is bad) thinking about this country, all vent their thoughts on this forum, or on the Joe Duffy Show.
That doesn't mean they are always right though!


Expedia http://www.expedia.ie/Hotel-Search#destination=Cork+City+Centre,+Cork,+Ireland&startDate=08/11/2012&endDate=09/11/2012&adults=1&regionId=6205877&total=39&sort=mostPopular&page=1

avalon68

Black Smoke wrote: »

Using expedia, you no doubt were given a wide choice of hotels, at various price levels.
You chose an expensive one, when you could have chosen otherwise. That's ok. That's your choice.
Complaining about it on here, makes no sense.
People with negative (everything is bad) thinking about this country, all vent their thoughts on this forum, or on the Joe Duffy Show.
That doesn't mean they are always right though!


Expedia http://www.expedia.ie/Hotel-Search#destination=Cork+City+Centre,+Cork,+Ireland&startDate=08/11/2012&endDate=09/11/2012&adults=1&regionId=6205877&total=39&sort=mostPopular&page=1

Very few of the hotels on that list are actually in the city. If I have business in Cork city why would I be staying in Cobh or anywhere else out of town. I dont think people here are generally all negative - its perfectly fair to point out that its expensive to holiday in Ireland. If the aim is to attract a lot of tourists for this gathering, then rather than trying to rip people off, why not incentivise them to not only come once, but return in the future. We cant exactly entice them with weather, so we need to offer something else.....why not offer bang for buck. Might also increase the levels of Irish people taking weekend breaks etc.

lmimmfn

I find "the Gathering" pathetic and an insult to irish people, its a begging bowl( which i would be ok with except its begging from those whio had to leave the country because the country couldnt provide for them )

I agree with Gabriel Byrne and i dont see why the diaspora should spend 1 cent in ireland when we let all those banking **** get off scott free. If i was abroad my attitude would be **** off, deal with the bankers and maybe ill consider it, otherwise im not interest in giving any money to a heavily corrupt country.

JustinDee

avalon68 wrote: »

Comparing two Jurys hotels, both in large cities. The one in the UK is far cheaper - almost, but not quite half the price

Let me know the hotel in UK.
I know that you can get Jury's in Cork cheaper than what you claim to have had no other option but to pay.

As suggested, shop around before taking a pot shot.

Sponge Bob

I'd say Gabriel had his fill of Irish 'tourist marketing executives' and that is why he resigned as an Ambassador. Most of the shower running the gathering spend their time in interminable meetings wondering how to 'reach out' to 60 year old Americans on Facebook, emerging on occasion to talk complete rubbish or jet off somewhere on expenses.

HINT the target group are too old to bother with Facebook

Fixed price charter flights from EVERY major town in the US would be a good idea...but nobody bothered with that one did they.

avalon68

JustinDee wrote: »

Let me know the hotel in UK.
I know that you can get Jury's in Cork cheaper than what you claim to have had no other option but to pay.

As suggested, shop around before taking a pot shot.

That was the price for the night I needed to stay - I was there on business, not backpacking around - I dont have the luxury of being flexible with my dates or booking months in advance. Im now out of this conversation as its dragging the thread way off topic.

JustinDee

avalon68 wrote: »

That was the price for the night I needed to stay - I was there on business, not backpacking around - I dont have the luxury of being flexible with my dates or booking months in advance. Im now out of this conversation as its dragging the thread way off topic.

I actually think its quite pertinent a point. You complain about being ripped off yet don't bother to shop around. Aside from being short of credence, its not very efficient business either considering the regular room rate in Jury's Cork for midweek is between €50 and €75 pn. If I wanted to stay there tonight, the highest price €69 (€79 for a double).

I'm staying in the Clyde Court (formerly Berkeley Court) this Saturday night for €95 (thats a room rate for a double, with breakfast included). Booked yesterday. That is on a match weekend when Ireland host the Springboks only down the road.

Just saying . . .

corkonion

I also think the gathering is a scam, tourist boards should be banned, its disgraceful trying to get people to holiday in Ireland when they could be in.... say Scotland or wales instead.
Who do board failte think they are trying to fill our hotels, restraunts, taxis, trains, museums, heritage parks etc with tourists in these times, crazy..... anyway I won't be around for most of it, I'm off to Scotland to see the loch ness monster and then on to the pacific northwest to get a glimpse of Bigfoot while the silly Americans come here for the rip off gathering.

Judgement Day

corkonion wrote: »

I also think the gathering is a scam, tourist boards should be banned, its disgraceful trying to get people to holiday in Ireland when they could be in.... say Scotland or wales instead.
Who do board failte think they are trying to fill our hotels, restraunts, taxis, trains, museums, heritage parks etc with tourists in these times, crazy..... anyway I won't be around for most of it, I'm off to Scotland to see the loch ness monster and then on to the pacific northwest to get a glimpse of Bigfoot while the silly Americans come here for the rip off gathering.

Poor attempt at being clever. If you knew anything about the way our tourist organisations 'work' you might post something more informed.

Black Smoke

avalon68 wrote: »

That was the price for the night I needed to stay - I was there on business, not backpacking around - I dont have the luxury of being flexible with my dates or booking months in advance. Im now out of this conversation as its dragging the thread way off topic.

You are out of the discussion, because you don't have anything to discuss, more like.
Being inflexible and caught for time, when purchasing any product or service, will inevitibly lead restriction of choice and paying over the odds for that product or service.
Try booking a hotel, in ANY city, with the same constraints, and hey presto, you will pay top dollar. Simple market forces at play.
So you want to book a flight with one of the best value and lowest cost airlines in the world, Ryanair. Thing is you must fly tomorrow!! Sorry mate, YOU have to pay a premium, over the people who booked in advance.

Example. I need to fly Dublin to Stanstead return. If I fly tomorrow, and come back Saturday it will cost me €190. If I fly one week later it will cost me €72.

Does that allow me to come on here and slate Ryanair as being extremely expensive?

PS: If I do decide to fly tomorrow, and consequently stay the night in a hotel over there, I will have to pay a heck of a premium for the hotel also, vis a vis next week.

ardmacha

That was the price for the night I needed to stay - I was there on business, not backpacking around - I dont have the luxury of being flexible with my dates or booking months in advance

International surveys have shown that hotels in Ireland are relatively good value and particular examples on particular days do nothing to change that. A sample of one is useless as avalon68 knows perfectly well.

Ireland as a price problem, but not presently hotel room prices.

As for the Gathering, there is the usual conflation of issues obscuring the problem here, whether you would like it, whether it is well promoted etc.
This being the Irish Economy forum the issue should not be stereotypes of American tourists or people who like to sneer at them, but whether the thing is well run, which it might well not be.

Black Smoke

ardmacha wrote: »

International surveys have shown that hotels in Ireland are relatively good value and particular examples on particular days do nothing to change that. A sample of one is useless as avalon68 knows perfectly well.

Ireland as a price problem, but not presently hotel room prices.

As for the Gathering, there is the usual conflation of issues obscuring the problem here, whether you would like it, whether it is well promoted etc.
This being the Irish Economy forum the issue should not be stereotypes of American tourists or people who like to sneer at them, but whether the thing is well run, which it might well not be.

Said it before, and say it again, and will probably get a smack on the wrist for it.
This particular forum, attracts a preponderance, of negative, sneering type thinking, in relation to each and every aspect of how the economy functions. Admittedly, there has been plenty to be critical of, on how our affairs were run, BUT ......................
Those who dont get on here, to vent, are too busy whinging to Joe Duffy, about something,. ............... anything will do, just to have a moan.

Sure, sure, sure, sure.

Judgement Day

And those that don't whinge here or get onto Joe Duffy, to try and get some action, sit in the pub and bitch about what's wrong with the country. At least those that post here or get onto to Joe Duffy do something rather than sit on their loathsome, spotty behinds.

x43r0

avalon68 wrote: »

As a private company they can set the rates to whatever they want. If people dont like it, they can go and work somewhere else if they want to.

Isn't minimum wage the law though? I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference whether the company was private or public. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought legally all employers have to pay it

mattthemiller

The company he works for he tells me are transporting passengers with cars AND cabins from Cherbourg (France) to Rosslare for €1 each on the 15th March. Its supposed to be for St. Patrick's Day. I think you can read about it on the below link:
www.celticlinkferries.com

He said to me it was sellingwell. Have a look at that

namenotavailablE

As above.

"The Gathering" is essentially an attempt to boost tourism revenues by putting on events in various locations throughout the year. This is something that would surely help a lot of businesses throughout the country. People are not being forced to come here if they don't want to- it depends on whether the produce meets their needs at a price they can afford. There is plenty of competition so if we are perceived to not 'hit the right notes' then we won't get the business.

It seems odd to complain about an attempt to boost the country's economic circumstances- perhaps criticise the marketing strategy (targeting the wrong people/ not advertising in the right way etc) as opposed to the actual effort to convince people to come and spend their money here. We all can benefit either directly or indirectly if the tourists come here and get a good holiday while spending their cash- I certainly hope it works.

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

At least those that post here or get onto to Joe Duffy do something rather than sit on their loathsome, spotty behinds.

How exactly does posting a moan anonymously on the internet constitute "doing something"?? It also tends to involve sitting on your keyster.

Seriously, Irish folk can be simply embarrassing sometimes. Such an apathetic self-loathing sense of entitlement and playing of the victim.

Cheer up. Thing might not actually be as bad as all that . . .

Judgement Day

JustinDee wrote: »

How exactly does posting a moan anonymously on the internet constitute "doing something"?? It also tends to involve sitting on your keyster.

Seriously, Irish folk can be simply embarrassing sometimes. Such an apathetic self-loathing sense of entitlement and playing of the victim.

Cheer up. Thing might not actually be as bad as all that . . .

At least posting on the internet gets people discussing things (otherwise why do it?) and may result in somebody coming up with worthwhile ideas of their own, ditto contacting Joe Duffy. I come to this not as some newbie, fresh out of school and I've had years of dealing with fools in Bord Failte/Government Departments etc. and I'm speaking with the benefit of experience. I can remember years ago trying to convince nitwits senior executives in Bord Failte that looking after backpackers (whom they derided) would pay dividends in the longer term - today's backpacker being tomorrow's family man bringing his whole entourage back to a country where he had a good time. I can tell you I should have saved my breath to cool my porridge. The Gathering is just another nonsense scheme by officialdom just so that they can be seen to doing something - just like our incompetent politicians. 'Things are actually as bad as that...'

Maura74

Black Smoke wrote: »

Using expedia, you no doubt were given a wide choice of hotels, at various price levels.
You chose an expensive one, when you could have chosen otherwise. That's ok. That's your choice.
Complaining about it on here, makes no sense.
People with negative (everything is bad) thinking about this country, all vent their thoughts on this forum, or on the Joe Duffy Show.
That doesn't mean they are always right though!


Expedia http://www.expedia.ie/Hotel-Search#destination=Cork+City+Centre,+Cork,+Ireland&startDate=08/11/2012&endDate=09/11/2012&adults=1&regionId=6205877&total=39&sort=mostPopular&page=1

Note the little word *From* on the prices quoted in the link, I have never found the prices at the lowest offer when ever I tried to book a hotel when traveling to Ireland. Therefore I stayed in B&B as I could not afford the hotel prices.

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

At least posting on the internet gets people discussing things (otherwise why do it?) and may result in somebody coming up with worthwhile ideas of their own, ditto contacting Joe Duffy. I come to this not as some newbie, fresh out of school and I've had years of dealing with fools in Bord Failte/Government Departments etc. and I'm speaking with the benefit of experience. I can remember years ago trying to convince nitwits senior executives in Bord Failte that looking after backpackers (whom they derided) would pay dividends in the longer term - today's backpacker being tomorrow's family man bringing his whole entourage back to a country where he had a good time. I can tell you I should have saved my breath to cool my porridge. The Gathering is just another nonsense scheme by officialdom just so that they can be seen to doing something - just like our incompetent politicians. 'Things are actually as bad as that...'

I'd also say that the only way to debunk it as a waste of time is next year.
I'm afraid that posting under a pseudonym on the web to discuss is equally as trite.

Judgement Day

JustinDee wrote: »

I'd also say that the only way to debunk it as a waste of time is next year.
I'm afraid that posting under a pseudonym on the web to discuss is equally as trite.

Horse and stable door and your second point is too subtle for me - lack of a university education I suppose.

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

Horse and stable door and your second point is too subtle for me - lack of a university education I suppose.

University? I'd say you'd a head-start at Aravon myself (that was just a joke, by the way)