'Gathering' aims to pull in 350,000 visitors

A GLOBAL Irish “homecoming”, which has been billed as the biggest tourism initiative staged in Ireland, could attract at least 350,000 visitors, it has been claimed.

The Gathering will be a year-long event in 2013 which will be supported by the Government and all the relevant tourism interests in the country.

The Government has decided that 2013 will be the appropriate year to hold as it will take a year to organise.

It will also coincide with Ireland holding the EU presidency and the Heineken Cup final, which is due to be held in Dublin.

The initiative will cost between €14 million and €16 million and will come out of the existing budgets of Tourism Ireland, which promotes Ireland abroad, and Fáilte Ireland, which looks after home tourism.

It is also hoped to get philanthropic support for the venture.

It will be aimed, in the first instance, at the Irish diaspora. The potential number of visitors involved amounts to 0.5 per cent of the estimated 70 million people who claim Irish ancestry worldwide. The organisers believe the 350,000 figure could be a conservative estimate of the number of overseas visitors attending.

If the targets are met, it could generate an estimated €220 million in additional tourism revenue.

Scotland held a similar event in 2009 called Homecoming Scotland, but the organisers of The Gathering said it was too narrowly focused on clan gatherings and large set-piece events.

The emphasis in The Gathering will be on local communities, families and organisations generating and organising events themselves.

Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar said at Dublin Castle that he would be organising a reunion between his Indian and Irish families who lived abroad.

The idea came originally from Fáilte Ireland. Its chief executive Shaun Quinn said they had already spent several months on planning for it. Details are expected to be formally announced on St Patrick’s Day with a series of international events.

A committee has been set up to oversee events. Former diplomat Dr Tim O’Connor will chair the board overseeing the event.

He said it was very much a “work in progress” but it would be building on Ireland’s existing network of festivals.

Local authorities will have a major role to play in ensuring that events take place.

He cited the example of Galway city’s three large summer festivals, the film fleadh, the arts festival and the Galway Races, as three events that could have a dimension which could be incorporated.

Mr Quinn said the principal focus would be those who had some connection with Ireland and who might want to return for a leisure trip.

He also said social media would be used for a cost-efficient marketing campaign.