Ireland Beckons Canadians – Of All Stripes

with Martha Chapman

What better way to start the day than with a hearty Irish breakfast - “The Full Irish” as it’s known. Poached eggs on toasted potato bread, smoked salmon, bacon, baked beans with black pudding, roasted tomato, and lashings of coffee and tea.

Luckily our hosts at the recent Tourism Ireland breakfast had lots of charm and interesting news to share or we all might have settled down to a post-breakfast nap.

The event, attended by tour operators, key travel agents and stakeholders in the Irish community (think the Ambassador, St. Patrick’s Day Parade officials), was held to launch The Gathering Ireland 2013. Next year, tourism officials are inviting the Irish diaspora – a whopping 70 million people around the world of Irish descent – to come home. As Jayne Shackleford, Tourism Ireland’s head here in Canada puts it, “One of the most exciting tourism initiatives I’ve ever worked on.”

Ambassador Ray Basset said, “There is a gross underestimation in Ireland of the size of the diaspora in Canada,” which is estimated at 4 million – yours truly included.

And a gathering it will be indeed, with 300 events planned, mostly community driven (tiny Rosscommon, home to the 1st female vet in Britain or Ireland, plans to host a group of lady vets). There will be special St. Patrick’s Day Parades (with visitors invited to march), clan gatherings, a twins get-together, and even one that Shackleford has marked in her diary: Redheads will rock Cork in September.

But the key message is that anyone “who has ever felt, or wanted to feel a connection to Ireland will visit and help lay the foundations for a better future for Ireland.”

As the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport, Dr. Leo Varadkar, told the group, “Our goal is to have visitors come and learn what Irishness is about.”

Oh, count me in – and I’m not even a redhead OR a twin!