Poll: Are you worried tourism will take a toll on Ireland's infrastructure?

THERE HAS BEEN a rise in so-called ‘anti-tourism’ in some parts of Europe, with protests taking place in the likes of Venice and Barcelona.

Locals in the Spanish city have complained that growing visitor numbers have led to rising rents, with the finger pointed at home-sharing site Airbnb. They’ve also raised concerns about a swamped historic centre and excessive noise from drunken revellers.

The city’s 1.6 million residents were still hugely outnumbered last year by an estimated 32 million foreign visitors. For comparison, in 2016 some 7.4 million tourists visited Dublin, which has a population of about 1.2 million.

State agency Tourism Ireland told TheJournal.ie that it hasn’t received reports of a similar anti-tourism sentiment on these shores. That said, travel journalist Eoghan Corry said tourism does put local infrastructure under pressure in some parts of the country.

In Dublin – where local officials are looking to increased visitor numbers by 7% each year until 2020 - not all locals have welcomed a swell in tourism in recent times.

Last year, columnist Ita Kelly wrote in the Irish Independent that she finds the Irish capital a “changed and disagreeable place”.

“It is now a mecca for tourists, all year round,” she wrote at the time.”It is virtually impossible to get from A to B with any speed anymore without falling over someone reading a map while simultaneously sucking on an ice cream.”

With that in mind, we’re asking Fora readers: Are you worried tourism will take a toll on Ireland’s infrastructure?