Sir, – Conor Pope suggests a “staycation” boom may be likely this summer as looming fuel shortages and flight cancellations threaten foreign travel (“Staycation once again: Should you holiday in Ireland this year?”, Ireland, April 24th).
The term staycation is increasingly misused, however. A staycation, by its plain meaning, is a break spent at home – reading, relaxing, pottering in the garden, or finally exploring what’s on your own doorstep. A trip to Kerry or Clare is not a staycation. It’s simply a holiday, something generations in Ireland managed to enjoy perfectly well without a fashionable label.
Many of us grew up assuming our summer break would be in Ireland. There was nothing second-rate about it, and rebranding it now risks turning a perfectly normal family holiday into a reluctant substitute. Of course, with the soaring cost of holidaying in Ireland, a genuine staycation – staying put and staying local – may soon be all many can afford. But that is a debate for another day. – Is mise le meas,
ROB RYAN,
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Dublin 14.
