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The Gathering officials to weed out fake events during the tourism initiative

Inappropriate events displayed on website - officials insist it is being policed and no funding will be misspent

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, November 16, 2012, 8:45 AM

Updated Friday, November 16, 2012, 8:45 AM

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Leo Varadkar invited the world to Ireland next year during the launch of The Gathering Ireland 2013

Photo by Niall Carson c/o PA

Those at the head of The Gathering Ireland 2013 have vowed to weed out any events scheduled during the festival or any scammers attempting to claim some of the special funding being allocated.

The Gathering issued this warning after it emerged that the official website was advertizing “events” such as birthday parties, weddings and Holy Communions, reports the Irish Daily Star.

A spokesperson said not all the events listed on the website can apply for funding and those that do are strictly vetted. They stressed that the funding for this yearlong tourism strategy will not be abused and the site is policed for inappropriate postings.

They said, “We cannot stop people advertising events on the website, but we are reviewing those posted.”

One event posted on the site for July was labelled “party up the waterfall for Leaving Cert Year 1994. BYOB folks.”

The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a year-long party of nationwide events, which are to be organised locally, to bring 325,000 overseas visitors to Ireland.

Nster.com

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Leitrim666 | Dec 13, 2012, 09:06 AM EST

The "spokesman" is talking rubbish. There are loads of ads on Irish radio stations (funded by the Gathering Ireland) telling people that "any event with 2 or more people is a gathering" so it's not surprising that people are advertising birthdays, communions and weddings. Since the definition is so broad I'm not sure how they define a scammer. I'm going for root canal work in January. That qualifies as a gathering so you're all invited.

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WoundedKnee | Nov 17, 2012, 02:46 PM EST

Don't bother trying to weed out the Gathering fakes. The whole damn thing is a fake.

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Seanmor | Nov 17, 2012, 10:06 AM EST

I have already asked this question in a previous comment and now I ask it again: Since I was born in England and became a U.S citizen over 40 years ago, but have always regarded the whole Irish nation -never the Southern Irish state - as my homeland, would the tourists officials of that state consider me a welcome visitor to the part of Ireland formerly known as the Free State?

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