Garnish Island in Bantry Bay consists of 37 acres of beautiful Italian gardens. The horticultural haven is a major tourist attraction for the area with 30,000 adults and 9,000 children visiting the island in the last year.
However a row has broken out between the government Commissioners of Public Works and local tourist interests over entry ticket price hikes. The commission has raised the admission price by 150% from 20p to 50p, which is seen as a real blow to tourism in the area.
Tom McSweeney, Garnish Island (1976)
Tom McSweeney speaks to Bernard Harrington, Hon Sec of the Glengarriff Tourist Association, who fears that the latest price increase in the entry fee will deter tourists from visiting the island. He describes it as,
A serious blow to the whole tourist industry in the place
An RTÉ News report by Tom MacSweeney broadcast on 8 March 1976.
