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Rain doesn't just dampen your mood - it can end up costing you a small fortune when holidaying at home, writes CONOR POPE

People who hoped the rain gods might cut them some slack this year after three sodden summers in a row have been let down. It was the wettest July in at least 50 years according to Met Éireann and there appears to be little prospect of the gloom lifting long enough in the coming days to appreciably lighten the national mood.

The rain isn’t just darkening moods, it is also lightening wallets across the country, particularly those belonging to people who, in a triumph of sunny optimism over gloomy experience, decided to holiday at home this year.

In good weather, living is cheaper. Sunny days can be spent doing little more than lounging about on the beach, feeding children home-made sandwiches and soft drinks bought cheaply in supermarkets.

But when it rains, it’s a whole different ball game. A family of four who travelled to Galway, for example, in July will almost certainly have been driven indoors on a daily basis by the rain. Restaurants replaced picnics and swimming became a largely indoor activity.

At least in Galway, where it rains on two out of every three days, there are some indoor things to do, other than watch the television and squabble. Salthill’s Leisureland is a fine way for a family to while away a few hours, with its toddler-friendly pools and a long, winding slide to keep older children and their shameless dads amused.

Like most of the indoor activities available in Ireland, however, it’s not cheap. Admission for two adults and two children is €23.60. Ridiculously, hairdryers in the changing rooms cost an additional 50 cent.

A cinema outing for the same family in the local Omniplex will cost €26, while an hour-long visit to an indoor playground, such as Monkey Business off the Western Distributor Road in Knocknacarra, is €8 per child. Just two hours’ bowling (during off-peak hours) at the City Limits entertainment complex on the outskirts of the city near Oranmore costs €60.

By doing each of these fairly run-of-the-mill activities just twice a week over the course of a fortnight’s family holiday, the bill for keeping a couple of children amused for just 24 hours out of a two-week holiday climbs to €382.40, almost as much as four airfares to somewhere a whole lot sunnier and cheaper.

But in miserable weather, there’s no option but to splash out and, as anyone who has ever tried to keep a toddler entertained in the rain will readily admit, swimming pools and indoor playgrounds are a godsend.

Monkey Business is owned by Stephanie Reid, a woman who wakes each morning and curses if she sees blue sky and sun. She says that business last month was steady. “I am praying the weather in August will be as bad as July, God forgive me,” she says. “If we get one good month during the summer, we’d nearly go out of business.”

Then there’s the cost of rain gear. According to Derek Moody of the Great Outdoors, there is a big bounce in trade in such items when weather is bad. “You definitely notice an upturn.”

He says someone can keep themselves completely dry whatever the weather by spending no more than €70 and is dismissive of the effectiveness of the €5 rain ponchos that cheaper outlets sell.

pope@irishtimes.com

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