New tourism plan welcomed for ‘neglected’ North Mayo

A north Mayo councillor has welcomed the ‘imminent’ Destination and Experience Development Plan (DEDP) for the north Mayo region but said that the Plan is long overdue.

Edel Healy, project officer for county Mayo with Failte Ireland, told a meeting of Mayo County Council’s Tourism SPC last Friday that they would be holding community meetings starting next month in areas around the region to discuss the DEDP.

A DEDP is a five-year plan that provides a shared vision and clear direction for the ongoing development of tourism amenities in an area. The North Mayo DEDP ranges over an area from Foxford to Blacksod.

Cllr Michael Loftus welcomed this development but said he cannot understand the delays in implementing the DEDP in north Mayo.

“We’ve been talking about this for so long, it is crazy,” he said.

He said he feels that north Mayo has been neglected, adding that Downpatrick now sees the same number of visitors as Croagh Patrick but lacks proper toilet facilities.

“An application has gone in for a walkway and there will be an investment in the car parking facilities but there’s 300,000 people, the same number as is visiting Croagh Patrick, going into Downpatrick Head and there are no toilet facilities. We need to have them in it.”

The SPC’s business representative and CEO of the Ballina Chamber of Commerce Mags Downey Martin welcomed the North Mayo DEDP.

“This can be a gamechanger for north Mayo and I’m looking forward to working with Failte Ireland on developing these plans,” she said.

Ms Healy told the meeting that the Clew Bay DEDP is currently in its implementation stage, having been launched in 2021, with Failte Ireland already making a number of commitments to events such as the Mayo Dark Skies festival and the Westport Sea2Summit.

A DEDP is expected to be rolled out for East Mayo in 2025.