Cllr Corrigan welcomes plans for additional Louth tourism staffing

Cllr Edel Corrigan has welcomed news that further staffing to help promote tourism in Louth is being considered by Louth County Council.

The Sinn Féin councillor had raised the matter at the Louth County Council March meeting, asking if the local authority had plans for a full time Tourism Officer in the county. 

Cllr Corrigan thanked Director of Services Tomas McEvoy and his team at the March meeting, for the “vast amount of work being carried out in the Louth Strategic Economic Department.” Cllr Corrigan said "it is evident from the monthly report that there is a vast amount of work being done by the department specifically on Tourism Development for the county.”

Cllr Corrigan queried as to whether there were any plans to move forward with appointing a full time Tourism Officer for County Louth "to support all this great work."

Chief Executive Joan Martin told the meeting in response that extra staffing for tourism is an area that she has looked at that it would be her hope that there would be extra staffing for the Tourism Office. Cllr Corrigan welcomed the Chief Executive's comments and wondered if a timeline would be available on plans for extra staffing.

Ms Martin replied to day that if she wants to appoint an additional member of staff, she can either seek to suppress an existing post on the Council's establishment figure because it has a maximum number of staff that are approved. Ms Martin said that such a move would have to be sanctioned by the government department. The other option available would be to make a case for an additional post. This would have to be sorted before another post can be created, Ms Martin told the meeting.

Welcoming the reply from the Chief Executive, Cllr Corrigan said following the meeting that "to have a full time dedicated Tourism Office for Louth would be a fantastic addition to Louth the Land of Legends. This county has so much to offer and a lot of exciting opportunities ahead with Brigid 1500 events, Visit Louth and Sea Louth experiences, Tain Trail, Carlingford, Boyne Valley and many more areas of interest in Louth.”