Sligo ‘missing out on campervan tourists’ because of lack of facilities

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

The frustration at the ever increasing cost of holidaying at home and abroad has led to many turning to campervans as an alternative method of holidaying but as September's monthly meeting of Sligo County Council heard, Sligo remains under served in terms facilities for campervans.

Putting a motion before the Council meeting, Cllr Thomas Walsh said, “We know how expensive hotels are and campervan holidays are booming.”

Outlining why Sligo is unable to attract these holiday makers Cllr Walsh pointed to the lack of facilities in Sligo which would, “Provide motor home users with a safe, low-cost parking area with waste disposal and water refill station."

In his motion Cllr Walsh added, “Such facilities across Europe have proven highly effective in promoting tourism, are beneficial to local economies and would promote sustainable travel.”

Addressing the monthly meeting, Cllr Walsh said, “There is nowhere to park in the county. If we want to promote Sligo as a tourism destination we have to ringfence funding."

Those sentiments were echoed by Cllr Thomas Healy who said, “As a campervan user myself I know the importance. We have areas we should be looking to get campers in. It’s something we need to get done sooner rather than later.”

Director of Services Jim Molloy told the meeting, “What we are currently doing is reviewing the different information that is out there with a view to coming up with a preferred model that we think would work best in Sligo and then looking for the site that would best accommodate it. There is an element of infrastructure in this.

"We need to make sure that what we do put in is going to work and is appropriate for Sligo. There is a wide variety of how these are delivered across the country and it is getting the right fit for ourselves and then we can agree on locations and go through the process.”

Mr Molloy added, “Currently there isn’t funding for this."