Athenry must get the recognition it deserves as a heritage town – and that means that the OPW must ensure that its sites in the town are open, accessible and properly promoted.

That’s what Galway East Deputy Louis O’Hara demanded in the Dáíl when he raised the matter with Minister for OPW Kevin Boxer Moran.

The Sinn Féin TD claimed that Athenry was being undersold in terms of its status as a heritage town.

“Within the town, we have a lot of really iconic landmarks and attractions, including the castle and the priory, which are under the remit of the OPW, but also the likes of the heritage centre and the town walls,” he said.

“There is incredible history in the town, and I think it is fair to say that there is a lot of frustration locally that we are being undersold in terms of our status as a heritage town and our tourism potential.

“I had a parliamentary question recently and the response told me that in the region of 15,000 people visit Athenry Castle every year.

“That paints an overall picture for the number of visitors coming to the town but the same number of people would visit Galway city or Connemara on one weekend. We can do a lot better in Athenry in terms of the number of people visiting,” he added.

Deputy O’Hara said it was a major challenge to achieve potential when some of the town’s best assets were closed to the public.

“The castle is closed now for the winter season until March. While I understand that access can be facilitated to the priory, there is a need to give a lot of notice,” he said.

“I ask Minister that you engage with the OPW on the opening arrangements for these sites and the promotion of these sites more broadly, which is a challenge.

“There is a lot of great work going on locally. Galway County Council has plans for a heritage trail, heritage event spaces and a River Clarin walkway. Great efforts are being made to enhance our tourism offering but we need all the stakeholders coming together to push this forward and the OPW is an important part of it,” he added.

In response, Minister Moran committed to looking into the issues raised.

“I am looking at the issue of sites that are not getting the numbers I would like to see them getting. I call these the smaller sites,” he said.

“I want to see if we can work in partnership with other tourism sectors, so we can deliver more numbers into those key areas,” he added.

Pictured: Athenry….reimagined.