A SHANNON councillor is calling for ‘Action’ in promoting the positives of the town.
Councillor Donna McGettigan has proposed that the Shannon Municipal District create a video showcasing Shannon and involving community volunteer groups, drone and photo footage.
“Our town has some beautiful spots such as the loop and pump track for people to come to visit,” she said at a meeting of the Shannon Municipal District.
The councillor stated, “A lot of time people tend to focus on the negative, but we need to focus on the positives.”
She pointed out that Shannon has a number of community groups “who help make our town what it is” including Tidy Towns and Meals on Wheels who could be featured in the video.
She added that Shannon is also home to sporting world champions who could also make an appearance in the video “and talk about growing up in Shannon.”
She said the video would be a means of “showing Shannon as an absolutely wonderful town to live in with amenities many people around the country are jealous of. We have great things here and we need to get it out there.”
The video could be used to promote Shannon across social media, in the airport and local hotels among other places she suggested.
Councillor Gerry Flynn recalled funding was given from the GMA to a public relations campaign for Shannon, adding if more funding is needed to promote the town he would support it.
Councillor PJ Ryan criticised what he said was “negative” talk about Shannon from some organisations which could “put people off visiting.” He said, “I believe there are a lot of positives and we need to start talking up rather than talking down.”
Councillor Flynn commented, “I don’t talk negatively of Shannon, Shannon is one of the best places to live with a fantastic, great community.” Councillor Pat McMahon suggested a meeting take place with the executives of Shannon companies to work towards promoting the town.
Councillor Pat O’Gorman described Shannon as a town that is “constantly evolving” saying the video would be a good way of highlighting Shannon’s amenities not only to those unfamiliar with the town, but also those already living there.
“People are coming in and out of Shannon all the time, we are constantly moving as a community,” he said adding, “There are a lot of things here that people living in Shannon don’t know about.”
Councillor John Crowe said there are “a lot of positives here” while stressing the importance of “talking up” the town saying, “we should never knock our own”.
Councillor Michael Begley pointed out, “The Irish are very modest and never speak well of themselves.”
Replying to the motion, Tom Mellett, senior executive engineer for the Shannon Municipal District stated, “Shannon Municipal District will assist in any way we can. We will discuss this with colleagues in other relevant departments in order to develop a brief for this project.”