Travel & Tourism

• Preliminary figures released by Tourism Ireland reveal that a record 8.8 million people will have visited the island of Ireland by the end of the year, an increase of 8.5%. The majority, some five million, came from Britain but the 2.3 million visitors from mainland Europe was an increase of 17%. An 11% jump in the numbers coming from North America brought that total up to 1.1 million, breaking the one million barrier for the first time since 2000. Some 7.4 million visited the Republic while the North had 1.8 million visitors. Just 4.1 million of the total came here on holiday.
• Minister for Transport Martin Cullen officially opened a new section of the M6 between Kinnegad and Tyrrellspass in Co. Westmeath, on Tuesday. The new 19km stretch of road is part of the Dublin-Galway motorway, and the next section to Kilbeggan is due to open next year, with Athlone to be added in 2008. Travellers to Galway from Shannon and Limerick are also expected to enjoy less stressful journeys in the near future; it is planned to open the Ennis bypass just before Christmas.
• The Irish Times reports on a legal battle in the US with strong Irish connections. Gregory Patrick, who runs Tours of Enchantment from Houston, Texas, has launched a court appeal in New Jersey to compel Robert Greifeld, chief executive of the Nasdaq stock exchange, to pay for a party held in Luttrellstown Castle. The US businessman brought a party of 16 adults and seven children to the castle for a week-long family reunion, but he is disputing the final $70k of the total $610k for the event, claiming that he was overcharged. The fantasy holiday required the recruitment of 32 actors, four butlers, Irish dancers, and experts in falconry and archery, as well as the hire of helicopters and horse drawn carriages
• The Dublin Port Tunnel opened yesterday for some 10,000 runners who completed a 10k charity race, by going up one tunnel and returning via the other. Traffic will start using the tunnel from December 20 but there is a fear that, by filtering all trucks from Dublin's docklands through the tunnel, traffic snarl-ups on the M50 will just get worse.