This article is from page 10 of the 2011-06-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
TWO new tourism businesses are set to open in Clare in the coming weeks as more than 150 local operators came together in Ennis last week to show that the county is open for business.
Corofin locals Darragh and Aisling Quinn are preparing to launch The Farmyard later this month, one of the most innovative eco-tourism businesses ever launched in Ireland.
Meanwhile, Quilty natives Shane Ryan and Laura O’Dwyer have just launched Sugar Island, a cafe and arcade which will provide tourists and locals with something interesting to do in Quilty.
Located in the shadow of Mullaghmore, The Farmyard aims to provide an authentic family farm experience to tourists young and old. Set on a fully working farm, it will cater for children’s summer camps from July but plans to cater for a number of different groups, including residential tourists in the future and also has its own tea room and farm shop which will offer the public the best of local produce.
“The idea is that different groups can come onto the farm and engage in very simple farm and garden activities, such as feeding the animals or working in our organic polytunnel to see how fruit and vegetable grow,” said Aisling Quinn. “We are not trying to pretend to be something that we’re not – this is an authentic farmyard experi- ence and there is a market for people to come and experience that.”
After returning home from abroad, Quilty native Shane Ryan decided that he wanted to do something to make his town a better place to live in.
“The place is split into two sections, the back has a big pool and games for the kids out the back and at the front section we have a cafe for the parents so they can relax while they keep an eye on the kids,” said Shane. “There is nothing anywhere around us like this. When I was growing up in Quilty there was nothing there for young people to do so we decided why not do something good for the local people and liven the place up a bit.”
Meanwhile, more than 150 Clare tourism operators participated in the Gala Clare Tourism Networking Evening at the Armada Hotel last week. The free business networking event featured more then 80 tourism information stands from all over the county.