A DELEGATION of representatives from the Portuguese region of Torres Vedras visited Fingal County Hall in Swords recently.
Mayor of Fingal Cllr Mary McCamley welcomed the Mayor of Torres Vedras, Carlos Bernardes, as well as Director of Ireland Portugal Business Network (IPBN) Liam King, members of IPBN Aoife Healy and John Donnelly, and Paula Duarte and Nigel Walsh from Portuguese Hotelier Group, Campo Real.
The visit, arranged by Dublin Fingal TD Darragh O’Brien (FF), was designed to strengthen business and tourism links between Fingal and Torres Vedras, a district located north of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
During her speech Mayor McCamley highlighted the significance of Fingal’s tourism industry.
“I see a lot of parallels between Fingal and Torres Vedras as we are both regions north of our respective capital cities and we serve urban, rural and coastal communities,” she said.
“Tourism is a strong growth industry and plays a hugely influential role in Fingal’s economic success. “The county of Fingal has a rich portfolio of natural and cultural assets and can capitalise on its city-edge location to Dublin city.
“The council is investing in the development and operation of a number of visitor sites which provide a valuable recreational and amenity resource for local residents as well as attracting visitors to the county.”
Director of Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development, Ed Hearne, delivered a presentation about Fingal’s tourism industry to the representatives from the IPBN and Campo Real.
Mr Hearne said: “Part of Fingal’s appeal is that while it is within 20 minutes of Dublin city, it also offers tourists 88 kilometres of coastline to discover, a huge variety of restaurants and cafes as well as a rich collection of cultural and heritage attractions.
“Recent European Investment Bank funding will allow us to implement a long-term investment programme to develop our tourism industry".
Mayor of Torres Vedras, Carlos Bernardes, said he was delighted to visit Fingal and looking forward to developing a stronger relationship.
“This is particularly important as we approach Brexit,” he said.
“I hope that a representative for Fingal will get the chance to visit Torres Vedras soon to see our coastline, vineyards as well as our Portuguese Carnival which takes place every year.”