Drivers off to Wexford being driven to distraction and Tipperary by sat navs
CONOR CULLEN
MODERN SATELLITE navigation systems in cars have been blamed for sending tourists to the wrong part of the sunny southeast.
Tourists intending to visit Fethard-on-Sea in south Wexford are accidentally ending up in Fethard, Co Tipperary, a Wexford county councillor claimed yesterday.
Martin Murphy told yesterday’s meeting of the county council that new signs erected in the seaside village in Co Wexford simply say Fethard rather than Fethard-on- Sea. He said this resulted in tourists heading there in fact being pointed towards Fethard, Co Tipperary, by their sat navs.
It is not the first time that there has been confusion between the two towns.
Mr Murphy recalled that the name of Fethard, Co Wexford, was changed to Fethard-on-Sea following a tragic loss of life at sea in 1914, when the lifeboat Helen Blake capsized on a service to the schooner Mexico off the Keeragh Islands. Nine of the crew of the Fethard lifeboat tragically died and just five survived.
Mr Murphy said that there was an outpouring of sympathy for the village and money came in from all around the world – however a lot of it ended up in Fethard, Co Tipperary, so the name of the village was changed to Fethard- on-Sea to distinguish it.
The councillor said money was again being lost as tourists were now being sent off in the wrong direction due to the new signs, which were partly funded by Fáilte Ireland.
However director of roads services Adrian Doyle said a lot of the older signs simply said Fethard too.
He also pointed out that people could enter the name of the county towards which they were headed into their sat navs, not just the exact location, which should prevent any shocks at lack of seaside attractions in Fethard, Co Tipperary.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
CONOR CULLEN
MODERN SATELLITE navigation systems in cars have been blamed for sending tourists to the wrong part of the sunny southeast.
Tourists intending to visit Fethard-on-Sea in south Wexford are accidentally ending up in Fethard, Co Tipperary, a Wexford county councillor claimed yesterday.
Martin Murphy told yesterday’s meeting of the county council that new signs erected in the seaside village in Co Wexford simply say Fethard rather than Fethard-on- Sea. He said this resulted in tourists heading there in fact being pointed towards Fethard, Co Tipperary, by their sat navs.
It is not the first time that there has been confusion between the two towns.
Mr Murphy recalled that the name of Fethard, Co Wexford, was changed to Fethard-on-Sea following a tragic loss of life at sea in 1914, when the lifeboat Helen Blake capsized on a service to the schooner Mexico off the Keeragh Islands. Nine of the crew of the Fethard lifeboat tragically died and just five survived.
Mr Murphy said that there was an outpouring of sympathy for the village and money came in from all around the world – however a lot of it ended up in Fethard, Co Tipperary, so the name of the village was changed to Fethard- on-Sea to distinguish it.
The councillor said money was again being lost as tourists were now being sent off in the wrong direction due to the new signs, which were partly funded by Fáilte Ireland.
However director of roads services Adrian Doyle said a lot of the older signs simply said Fethard too.
He also pointed out that people could enter the name of the county towards which they were headed into their sat navs, not just the exact location, which should prevent any shocks at lack of seaside attractions in Fethard, Co Tipperary.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
