New row erupts over 'storm in a teacup'!

She was responding to the remark from Independent councillor Randal McDonnell at a meeting of Moyle Council.

Recently the Council expressed annoyance that they were not formally invited to a ‘Vision for the North East’ tourism meeting held by the Tourist Board in the Lodge Hotel, Coleraine.

Local councillors say the Moyle area is home to the top tourist attractions in Northern Ireland and they said councils with “a lesser tourism offering’ were invited to the meeting.

And the Council threatened to withdraw funding from a local Regional Tourism Partnership (RTP) as a result of the ‘snub’.

In a letter back to Moyle Council, Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board - who attended the Coleraine meeting - said: ‘You will appreciate that tourism is a huge industry with a broad range of stakeholders and it is therefore difficult to meet with every partner in a single meeting.

‘The Causeway area is represented by 8 local authorities and on this particular occasion, NITB invited representatives from 3 of the councils and private sector representatives from across all the Council areas including several from Moyle.’

Mr Clarke said he was “puzzled” by the connection drawn between a decision to potentially withdraw funding from the local RTP and NITB performance as the RTP is an independent company and is not core funded by NITB.

Mr Clarke hoped the Council would continue to engage with them in a meaningful way for the benefit of Moyle and the tourism industry at large.

The row has been rumbling on for a number of weeks and at the Moyle Council meeting last week Cara McShane said she welcomed an admission from Stormont Tourism Minister Arlene Foster that it was “wrong” that Moyle was left out.

But she thought something good come out of it all.

Said Cllr McShane: “We have been invited to an unprecedented number of events since, which is to be welcomed but we will have to look at this closely because it was certainly not the first time we were snubbed and we can’t take our eyes off the ball.”

Sinn Fein councillor Oliver McMullan thought a response from the Tourist Board was “flippant” and Independent councillor Seamus Blaney congratulated the Council Chairperson and Chief Executive Richard Lewis for their written responses to the Tourist Board.

Council Vice-Chairman, Cllr Robert McIlroy (DUP), said the fact the Council is getting more invites to events shows the message has got through to the Tourist Board.

Cllr McDonnell said people should relax more on the issue.

He said: “We really should all calm down. Your letter was comprehensive but I can understand Mr Clarke being bemused at the flurry.

“Some other councils were left out also. It is a storm in a teacup. They do recognise us and maybe they didn’t invite us because they know we are so good at tourism.”

Cllr McShane said she wished to refute Randal’s remarks and said he was “out of touch” with the tourism industry and she added: “Continuously the Tourist Board snub Moyle Council.”

She said it was a “huge mistake” by the Tourist Board and added: “It is not a storm in a teacup.”

Independent councillor Price McConaghy said: “Until Alan Clarke comes back to us and makes an apology we should ignore all invitations coming from him.”

Cllr McShane said she welcomed the statement from Arlene Foster on the issue.

North Antrim Sinn Fein Assemblyman, Daithi McKay, issued a statement which said: “I have pressed the Tourism Minister on this matter over the past number of weeks and I am glad that she has now admitted that the decision was the ‘wrong thing to do’.

“She also said that the NITB’s justification for the snub was ‘not an excuse’ and the Minister has personally assured me that this will not happen again.

“The Minister has agreed to pass on my proposal that the Chief Executive of NITB hold a similar engagement meeting with Moyle Council to compensate for this neglect and I fully expect, as will Moyle Council, that this will take place. If it doesn’t further questions will have to be asked.”

Arlene Foster said she was told the absence of Moyle Council at the meeting was “not meant in any way as a snub”.