Janet Kaiser on wed 4 apr 01
I know what you mean Paul... The press have been having
a field day here too. But the UK mainland if far more
affected than Ireland, for whom St. Pat has obviously
doing some serious intervention. May he continue to do
his bit for the agriculture and the tourism industries,
without which Ireland would be lost.
But just like Ireland, Wales is still "open for
business". With visitor numbers down 70% and income
down 60%-80% (according to a recent survey) times are
hard for all small businesses, including potters.
Although this was the straw which broke the camel's
back, one potter I know had the bailiffs in last week.
He is situated in a country park in a
restricted/quarantined area which was closed to the
public, but they walked straight through the "closed"
signs and impounded all his pots, equipment, clay...
Everything. I don't think he will ever be able to
recover. Just too sad.
The site to visit if planning to visit North Wales, is
http://www.nwt.co.uk where they update what is
accessible and what not. The Chapel of Art is open,
because we are in a village / coast environment without
sheep and cows near us. Foot paths which do not pass
through pastures have been opened, so we are also
getting many walkers who would otherwise be in the
mountains.
The military have taken on the task of disposing of
carcasses (reached 1 million today) so even in areas
like Devon and Cumbria, the sight and smell will soon
be a thing of the past. The Government is hoping the
worst will be over by June, so anyone thinking of a UK
holiday should not be put off by the scenes of horror.
Like Paul says, the press just love to hype it all up.
So anyone planning a visit should not be put off. The
baked beans are guaranteed safe! :-)
Janet Kaiser - Setting up "Animal Farm" an unfortunate
choice of exhibition title in the light of the current
situation, but what can one do?
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> Dear All
>
> I expect many Clayarters family and friends may
be thinking of
> visiting Ireland this year. Or - God forbid -
canceling their planed visit
> because they are not sure of the situation visa vi
foot and mouth disease;
> which has been found on two farms in the border area
and thankfully up to
> now has been contained.
>
> Although the disease is an animal disease this
country has virtually
> shut up shop to get this disease under control . With
the exception of some
> pond life such as journalists. The whole country has
kept out of the small
> exclusion Zone in county Louth, put down disinfectant
matts at the entrances
> too all public access points and many rural
businesses including myself have
> closed while the situation looked bad. This was done
with no policing from
> the department of agriculture or any authority -
people just got up and
> acted in the common interest.
>
> Apart from the few journalists who decided that
their Job was more
> important than our agriculture industry. They went
into the exclusion zone
> in hope they might find some goolish pictures. When
they were challenged by
> the general public their excuse was that there was no
agricultural officials
> or official barriers there to stop them. Even the
presenters of all RTE
> radio programs closed ranks to support their
colleges - the irony is that
> these presenters spend a lot of their time
criticizing this sort of
> arrogance in other professions.
>
> The reason I am writing is an attempt to undo the
harm that other pond
> life has done to our tourist industry and my pottery
business- "Plague
> strikes" makes much better headlines than "Disease
under control"
>
>
> I think our collective panic has paid off the
government has now lifted most
> of the restrictions.
>
> So if you are traveling to Ireland you are all
very welcome. All things
> that have nothing to do with agriculture are open
including - thank God -
> the fishing.
>
> There is official info at
>
http://www.ireland.travel.ie/events/display.asp?eventId
=79 .
>
> The exclusion zone is small - you would probably
have trouble finding it.
>
> So to conclude If you are going to join us in the
summer . You are all
> welcome.
>
>
> -- Regards from Paul Taylor
> http://www.anu.ie/westportpottery
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