Tag Archives: trans-atlantic

WORKING as a guidance counsellor Fiona Christie is used to supporting students as they navigate their way through life’s journey. However, the Ennis woman took on a navigation of a very different kind recently when she set sail across the Atlantic ocean. A keen sailor Fiona had long hoped to take part in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) race from Gran Canaria to St Lucia, however with work keeping her busy she didn’t have the time. Finding herself between positions last August she decided to listen to that little voice inside her telling her to go for it, and she is delighted she did. Now returned from her travels and working with students in St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, Fiona tells us, “I always thought I’d love to do the race some day, but being a guidance counsellor in a secondary school I was always working in November when the race is on. It was something I thought …

IRELAND had a record year for visitors from North America in 2013 and it was also the best year for overseas tourism since 2008, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar confirmed today. The CSO Overseas Tourism figures show that a total of 6.986m overseas visits were recorded last year, representing an increase of 7.2% on the 2012 figure.  The total number of visits from North America amounted to 1.158m, which exceeded the previous record set in 2008, and represented an increase of 13.9% on the 2012 figure.  All of Ireland’s main overseas markets grew in 2013 compared to 2012; the number of visits from Great Britain grew by 5.6%; visits from Mainland Europe grew by 4.9% while there was also strong growth of 15.1% from other long-haul markets. “Last year was a record year for visitors from North America and the best for overall tourism since 2008. The Gathering was enormously successful in generating additional visitor numbers. The …