Fáilte Ireland

Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 and replaces and builds upon the functions of Bórd Fáilte, its predecessor organization. Fáilte Ireland's current CEO is Redmond O'Donoghue

Name

The legal name of the body is the National Tourism Development Authority, according to the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003 which established it. The 2003 act also empowers the body to use the trading name of Fáilte Ireland. The word fáilte is Irish for "welcome". In official Irish-language texts the form Fáilte Éireann has been used.

History

After the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, hoteliers and others created local tourism boards in various regions, which combined in 1924 into the Irish Tourism Association (ITA), a private organisation "promoting tourism to the benefit of the nation". (An earlier, unionist-led, ITA existed from 1895 to 1921.) ITA lobbying led to the Irish Tourist Board being established by the Tourist Traffic Act 1939. This was renamed An Bord Fáilte by the Tourist Traffic Act 1952, which created a separate body, Fógra Fáilte, to handle publicity. The Tourist Traffic Act 1955 remerged the two as Bord Fáilte Éireann (BFÉ or "Bord Fáilte").An Tóstal, a summer cultural fesitval held from 1953 to 1959, took up the bulk of the authority's work in this period. In 1963 the Council of Education, Recruitment and Training (CERT) was created to take over training of workers in the hospitality industry. In 1964, eight regional tourist organisations (RTOs) were established which were intended to supersede the ITA; an extraordinary general meeting called in 1964 to dissolve the ITA voted not to do so, but it nevertheless soon became defunct.

Ireland

Ireland (ⁱ/ˈaɪərlənd/; Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə]; Ulster-Scots: Airlann [ˈɑːrlən]) is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and located in the northeast of the island. In 2011 the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just over 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

The island's geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable climate which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, compared with a European average of 35%. There are 26 extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is very moderated and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area. However, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

Ireland (disambiguation)

Ireland usually refers to:

Ireland may also refer to:

Former political arrangements of Ireland

Ireland, Bedfordshire

Coordinates: 52°03′36″N 0°20′54″W / 52.06002°N 0.34836°W / 52.06002; -0.34836

Ireland is a hamlet in the civil parish of Southill, Bedfordshire, England.

External links

Media related to Ireland, Bedfordshire at Wikimedia Commons