Opinion why are we so slow to believe a good news story
It struck me this week that we’re very quick to believe the negative, but we not so much with positive news.
A colleague wrote at length previously about the inability of the Irish to take a compliment, while an insult will remain on our minds for a long time after the remark was made. It appears we’re the same with good news these days, easily believing, and quite happy to give out about, any bad or negative news stories, but when it comes to good news for the region, we have our doubts.
My colleague, Adrian Cusack, put his creative writing skills to work last week with his story about the cycleway going underground and, more importantly, under the Shannon and instead of seeing the wonderful sites the town has to offer, tourists would see images of what was above ground. Published on April 1, it was of course an April Fools joke. Don’t fret if you fell for it though, you weren’t the only one, with some within our own office falling for the trick, and having a good old rant about it, to boot.
The same day, and perhaps unfortunately for the company involved and those who had been working behind the scenes on the project for some months, news broke of a proposed development by Center Parcs at Newcastle Woods in Ballymahon. The €200m development, which is to create 750 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs if it goes ahead, will be the biggest single investment by a private company in the tourism sector in the history of the State, according to the Mayor of Longford.
Yet, last Wednesday nobody would take this good news story seriously, instead believing that it was an April Fools joke. We were inundated with comments on our Facebook page on the story, the majority of which related it to it simply being an April Fools joke.
The notion that a €200m tourism development could truly be on the cards for a small Midlands town like Ballymahon didn’t even seem to enter people’s heads.
The fact that there could be a significant jobs boost on the horizon was simply dismissed as a trick.
Yet, why shouldn’t an area of the Midlands be home to such a holiday village, showing off the wonderful surrounding forestry and countryside and making it a great base to show off the wonderful jewels that this region has to offer.
We often bemoan the fact that the likes of Westport, Kerry, Donegal and, of course, our capital, Dublin, receive the focus of state agencies and tourism drives, while the potential of the Midlands has remained largely untapped. Perhaps, we are our own worst enemies in this regard, not making full use of the sites and amenities we have on our doorstep.
Maybe last week’s announcement will help us to see the potential of our own doorstep in a new light. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and CEO of Center Parcs, Martin Dalby, were in Ballymahon on Thursday last to make the formal announcement, revealing that the company had signed an option agreement with Coillte for the 375 acre site at Newcastle Woods, just outside Ballymahon.
The holiday resort, which is expected to open to guests in 2019, will have capacity for up to 2,500 guests. It is to employ 1,000 people in permanent jobs once up and running and many of the roles are expected to be filled by employees between the ages of 18 and 24.
Center Parcs, which has five resorts in the UK, offers high quality, short breaks in a secluded and natural woodland setting. The Ballymahon venture will include 500 lodges and offer more than 100 indoor and outdoor activities. It is expected to add in the region of €32m to Irish GDP per annum.
Yet, the vast majority of people doubted the story when it emerged last week, and probably many still doubt that the development will happen. But, why are we so quick to dismiss a positive news story for this region? Would we have believed it quicker had the story been about Kerry, Donegal or even Wicklow? There is no doubt that there was competition for sites for the development from other areas of the country and it is fantastic that Newcastle Woods was selected as the site for the resort. It will bring a huge economic boost to the area when it goes ahead, but more than that it will shine a light on the true tourism potential of the Midlands as a whole.
Longford, Westmeath, Roscommon, Offaly and Laois are probably not up there on visitors’ top destinations when they are selecting holiday spots, but perhaps this is all about to change and people will have the opportunity to see the natural beauty the area has to offer, as well as take advantage of the many amenities in the region, from forest and lakeside walks, to trips along the majestic Shannon, the historic value of Clonmacnoise, Belvedere House and Gardens in Mullingar and the craft village of Ballinahown. We have plenty of little gems to be proud of in the Midlands region and if they can be brought to a new audience, it should definitely be seen as a positive.