This drone footage of Mosney will break your heart

FOR generations of Dubliners, a holiday at Butlin’s in Mosney was as good as it got – which is why this drone footage of what it looks like now will bring a nostalgic tear to the eye.

Back in the 1970s and ’80s, holidays abroad were the preserve of the rich and famous. For the rest of us, it was a mobile home in freezing Donabate or windswept Rush. It was not too far removed from the holiday experience so hilariously depicted in ‘Fr Ted’, where parents struggled to find at least ‘two places of interest’ to keep the family from killing one another.

But Butlin’s was on another level completely. Even the Irish weather couldn’t dampen our spirits, with a choice of indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

We lived it up in the ‘luxurious’ chalets and dined out in an actual restaurant every single night. How posh was that?

The amusement park was like nothing else we’d ever experienced and there was even live entertainment with dodgy music to keep our parents happy.

Sadly, Butlin’s is no more at Mosney; nor is it a venue for the Community Games. It has taken on a new life as a centre for refugees, a world away from its glory days as Ireland’s premier holiday and entertainment centre.

This stunning drone footage shows what the Mosney site looks like in more recent times.