ATHY & KILDARE GENERAL, 2 July 2002: by Brian Byrne. A weekend festival planned for October in Athy around the story of explorer Ernest Shackleton is aimed at being a sustainable event with the ability to attract an international market.
The event, which is being organised by the Athy heritage Company, has been approved for grant aid under the Festival and Cultural Events Initiative which was launched by East Coast & Midlands Tourism earlier this year.
In May 2000, the Athy Heritage Centre was host to an array of Ernest Shackleton enthusiasts who included his granddaughter, the Honourable Alexandra Shackleton. They stopped off at Kilkea to visit the explorer’s birthplace and the village of Ballitore where his Quaker ancestors are buried and where Abraham Shackleton opened his famous school in the eighteenth century. Pictured above are then acting UDC chairman Sean Cunnane with Alexandra and the group outside Athy Heritage Centre.
The highlight of their visit was their trip to the Heritage Centre to see the sledge used by Shackleton on his 1907-09 ‘furthest south’ trip to the Antarctic when he came within 97 miles of the South Pole but decided to turn around ‘a live donkey instead of a dead lion’. The group expressed particular interest in the sledge harness on display which on one occasion saved Shackleton's life when he fell into a crevasse.
EC&MT is also representing Co Kildare at a number of events abroad this week, including the Hampton Court Flower Show and the Royal Country Show in Warwickshire. The county has also been represented by the tourism organisation at consumer shows in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow we met with a large NEW pool of potential tourists as well as a very succcessful UK Shopping Centre campaign.
“To date 2002 has seen the Tourism industry experiencing mixed fortunes,” says EC&MT tourism officer Michael Brady. “The domestic market has shown strong growth, but in contrast, overseas demand is reported to be weak, with a notable exception of Britain. North America is significantly down for all sectors as is the continental European business.”
