Dear Madam - Looking at newspaper reports I see lots of foreign nationalities mix in Donegal - whereas fewer seem to visit Fermanagh. Donegal Town now has the newly opened Irish House. It also has the seaside and more ruggest scenery - attractive to tourists but otherwise of little use to man or beast.

Beside the “next parish” so far as the people of Donegal were concerned was in the USA and many went there especially during the famine years - so people return to see the land of their forefathers - not to visit Fermanagh. What Ireland lacks and Fermanagh could provide to attract tourists is a good well informed, well illustrated display about the Irish Country clans before the Flight of the Earls.

In Connemara, I talked to Americans who knew as much about Ireland when they were leaving as when they arrrived.

The bus driver knew no history. There was no guide. No “talks” in hotels. They were expected to read Irish history - but not all tourists read.

They need to be fed information - in the form of visuals and words. The way to attract tourists is to bring history alive. I met a lass from Zurich who has been a waitress in Norwich for four weeks. She did historical tours, visited museums, gone to lectures and knew Norfolk’s history in a month.

People from abroad are not zombies which is why I hate the Irish tourist ad; “Leap into Ireland” as if you are invited to jump into a bog.

The Irish need to display intelligence to attract an intelligent, high spending tourist.

Just because people are from abroad dosen’t mean they’re here for the Guinness and the “craic.” They don’t like Guinness and can’t understand the “Craic.” PS - In Connemara, the huge shoals of fish which people relied on for a varied diet left at exactly the same time as the blight attacked the potato crop - so people lost both sources of food in an instant.

Yours faithfully, Ivan Armstrong, Kent.