A combination of a strong Sterling and sunny skies gave a major boost to Sligo tourism over the weekend.
Traditionally viewed as the start of the tourist season, last weekend was one of the busiest ever Easter weekends locally.
And as the sun continues to shine there are still large numbers of visitors around the county this week.
Anthony Gray, who runs the Eala Bhan restaurant in Sligo town and Tra Ban in Strandhill, said: “Figures are definitely up on last year. We have seen a big increase. A lot of the people over the weekend were foreign or from the North. The good rate on Sterling means Northerners are really getting value for money.
“Also the fact that the weather has been good has helped but in general there is a lot of positivity. The negativity seems to have gone out of it and people are realising that things are slightly changing.”
Anthony, who is national president of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, believes that the legacy from the Fleadh is starting to really come through.
“There is a goodwill and a good feeling because now the town has never looked so well. Sligo needed it, because it is starting to open up a like a flower.”
The good weather attracted a lot of people to seaside resorts and beaches right along the Sligo coast.
At one end the Mullaghmore was exceptionally busy.
“We were very busy for this time of year. The good weather helped and there were a lot of people from the North,” a spokesperson for the local Pier Head Hotel said.
She said that they were fully booked out for the week and had a lot of bookings for April.
It was a similar story at the other end of the coastline in Enniscrone.
For more on this story and how Sligo faired out over the Bank Holiday weekender- pick up this week’s Sligo Weekender- in shops now.
