Mayo’s new tourism director relishes new role

The new Director of Services for Tourism with Mayo County Council has said he relishes his new role and sees huge potential in the sector for the county. At a Tourism Strategic Policy Committee meeting, Tom Gilligan said he was looking forward to working on the brief and bringing people in.

“I intend to be very focused on the job and see it as a great opportunity,” he told the forum.

“I was very interested when we saw the new government tourism policy last December and the benefits that are there for Mayo, particularly around growth in less mature tourist destinations, including the northern stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way, greenways, blueways, trails and outdoor infrastructure. The opportunities for Mayo are enhancement of the Great Western Greenway and new links between Westport, Achill and North Mayo.

“Also, the culinary strategy in the policy will highlight local food and specialities and this means strong potential for food trails.

“I can’t not comment on the heritage and outdoor recreation aspect either,” continued Mr Gilligan, saying, “We are blessed with our dark skies, Nephin and the promotion of Mayo as a nature-based destination; also the marine and island tourism strategy, the policy commits to all of this, with a strong emphasis on coastal and inland communities, and also to support water-based facilities. I could see how diving could become synonymous with Mayo and promoting all of the great work we have spearheaded with the MV Shingle project in Killala.” 

The tourism strategic policy is also supportive of festivals.

“Galway is currently looking at the whole nighttime economy, and I think we need to look at that as well, for visitors to enjoy our culture and entertainment in the evenings.

“There is potential investment also to increase accommodation capacity, and I am concerned we have a number of hotels up for sale in the county and we need to address that.

“As to sustainable and nature-based tourism, slow tourism, green experiences, we have huge opportunity. We are also looking at our EV strategies and continuing the rollout of chargers to make this county fully accessible, and we are also looking to support Knock Airport,” assured Tom Gilligan.

“Essentially, we have so much to offer and we probably need a bit more joined up thinking, particular in regard to groups promoting tourism such as Destination Westport, Mayo North and Achill Tourism, for all to come together to promote the county as one, as there is huge opportunity around that.

“We need increased finance for the whole strategy and for it to be sustainable we will also need money to maintain projects, so that there is a whole life funding of projects and that we are not just building but also maintaining our facilities, and we need to talk to government politicians and Failte Ireland about this.” 

Welcoming Mr Gilligan to his new role, Chair of the SPC, Cllr Al McDonnell also congratulated Head of Tourism Michael McDermott and Tourism Officer Maura Murphy on all the great work done across the sector to date and noted two upcoming international conferences being supported by the council, which are expected to bring over 400 delegates to the county town. 

The first is the eighth international Swift Conference, founded by Lynda Huxley, which will take place at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in May, with Cllr McDonnell noting: “The swift is an extraordinary swallow-like bird that astonishingly spends up to 10 months in the air. The species has been in significant decline and there is an international campaign to save this bird.” 

The second conference is the 13th International George Moore Conference, also taking place in May and which honours “the famous Irish novelist from a famous family in Moore Hall.” 

Cllr Blackie Gavin also welcomed Mr Michael McDermott to his new role as Head of Tourism, describing him as “a very capable guy who did some great work around the town of Castlebar and county” and also welcomed new Director of Services (Infrastructure and Emergency Services) David Mellett to the meeting, “another very capable guy and we wish him well.” 

Cllr Gavin added: “We are the third largest county in Ireland, and I wish Tom Gilligan well in his new role. I know he will drive the capital projects and also, thanks to Maura and the tourism team for all you do to promote the county.” 

Responding, Mr Gilligan said he also wanted to mention a huge opportunity coming up in 2027 in the form of the Ryder Cup golf tournament.

“The eyes of the world and those with sporting interests will be on it and I think this is a great opportunity for Mayo. We have about ten golf clubs that are institutions in Mayo, and if we can attract them here either before or after the event to our fantastic facilities, it is a once in a lifetime event in the West of Ireland.”