Twinning with Gaza Highlighted in Ballycastle Debate
14 March 2012
TUV Leader and North Antrim MLA, Jim Allister, used a Stormont debate on the lack of hotel provision in Ballycastle to point out the chill factor which Moyle Council's “very wrong-headed” decision to twin with Gaza will have on growing tourism in the Ballycastle area.
In the course of his remarks Mr Allister said:
“We all share the frustration and disappointment that a beautiful setting such as Ballycastle does not have a hotel. Undoubtedly, a vibrant hotel is a hub and an attraction for any town of that size. However, we also have to be realistic and recognise that, no matter how generous grants or encouragements of one shape or another might be, at the end of the day, the defining issue for long-term sustainability of a business is that it is commercially viable. Although Ballycastle is in a beautiful setting, there must be reason why the Marine Hotel, in its prime location, was not capable of succeeding. Therefore, there is a certain naivety in thinking, “Government can fix this for us”. Whatever the tourism Minister’s powers and, indeed, her charms might be, she cannot deliver commercial viability to a hotel if it is not sustainable.
“No matter how much we might flood the issue with goodwill or how much we might prime it with assistance, if that is possible, at the end of the day, it will either be commercially sustainable or it will not. Of course, we all hope that the exciting new developments on the north coast will float many boats, and that Ballycastle, too, will benefit from that; but we have to be realistic. The primary responsibility is on Moyle Council, which, contrary to what Mr McKay says, is very Ballycastle-centric. Its largesse is experienced much more in Ballycastle than it ever will be in Bushmills, and it is quite wrong to suggest otherwise.
“The council has scored a massive own goal with the preposterous decision that was made in the face of the advice that it was given and the knowledge that it was wholly divisive and would be prejudicial to the image of Ballycastle and of Moyle. Driven by the chairman no less, the council has insisted on a ludicrous twinning with Gaza. That insistence of twinning with the Hamas-led Gaza council, driven through by one community against the wishes of the other, has brought and will bring increasing opprobrium upon the council. That tells me that Moyle Council is sadly not motivated, as I would like it to be, by the overriding desire that could manifest itself in tourist and commercial success through a new hotel. It seems to have a different agenda, and last night’s narrow decision was an indication of a very wrong-headed approach that does much damage.
“Ballycastle’s natural amenity is its beauty. My, oh my, when you drive down the hill into Ballycastle and look across to the headlands, it is magnificent; the beach is magnificent and you would wish to be there as often as possible. However, it is hard to take seriously a council that drives wedges into the community in this way instead of lobbying for and devoting its time and energies to things that matter. It is hard to take it seriously when that council says that the whole world is at fault, that it owes us an hotel that we do not have and never mind what we have done to drive tourists away.
“The chairman of the council, who has driven this issue, needs to catch himself on. I am sure that such help as can be given will be given; however, at the end of the day, commercial success will determine whether Ballycastle needs a vibrant hotel.”
