This article by Catherine Mack appeared in Irish Times

Support your local market

FOOD IS what brings most of us together at Christmas. You can have the decorated tree and loads of presents under it, but it is the smell of a baked ham, the sharing of some of granny’s Christmas cake, or just the first bite of warm brown bread and smoked salmon which creates a true season of goodwill.

Similarly, food is at the core of tourism and a linchpin of making our holidays truly sustainable. And this is why some food producers have realised that the product is a fundamental part of the fáilte and are offering services which enable you to put their fine fare on any self-catering cottage, castle or camping table in the country.

These are my food heroes, and the guys who are going to play a big role in keeping this part of our culture thriving.

Localmarkets.ie is a website where you can buy all the produce you drool over at farmers’ markets or simply on their site and have it delivered to any place in Ireland. So, if you or your loved ones are renting a place for a Christmas get-together – whether it is in Fermanagh or Fermoy, Donegal or Down – you can get a great stock of fine Irish goodies in without any of the arguments about who is doing the shopping. And if you own self-catering accommodation, it would be great to let your guests know about this new service too.

Superb artisan breads from Arbutus Breads, organic chickens from Dan Ahern, vegetarian burgers from Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy burgers, organic salmon from Old Millbank Smokehouse, fruit and vegetables from Organic Republic, chorizo and cheese from the famous Gubbeen Farmhouse, are just a few things you can pop in your cyber shopping basket, for true farm to front door service.

This is a food delivery scheme for life, not just for Christmas, and will be held up as a sustainable tourism case study by many countries when they hear of it. You just need to order three days in advance for your produce to arrive packed in an expanded polystyrene (EPS) box, fully recyclable and environmentally friendly. You can either time it with your arrival, or ask your accommodation provider to store it for you until you get there as the box temperature is kept at below four degrees until opened. Orders must be a minimum of €30, plus €5 delivery charge. You can even shop a month in advance, and so avoid making it part of your last minute to-do list before you head for the hills.

Another switched on food producer is James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel (jameswhelanbutchers.com) who also has an online delivery service. With an array of fine meat, this prolific butcher (and concessionary at the new Avoca market in Monkstown, avoca.ie) will have your pans doing plenty of seasonal sizzling. After being custom cut and weighed, the meat is packed into a temperature controlled box in a dedicated packing room and delivered the next day to your holiday hideaway. For orders of more than €100 delivery is free to anywhere in the 32 counties, otherwise delivery is €10.

Both companies will be delivering until December 23rd, but it is worth bookmarking the food providers for all your future breaks or sharing on Facebook as well.

I will be spending some of my Christmas break in a yurt, sussing out the sustainable features of a 100-acre site at Mount Druid, in Westmeath, one of Ireland’s latest ventures into the world of “glamping” (boutiquecamping.ie). Tucked up by a wood-burning stove with my loved ones, a box full of goodies, plenty of fresh air if we want it, and a converted barn if we need to escape it too.

This is my idea of bliss for contemplating the year ahead in simple, natural style. It will be a year full of ethical travel, I hope, but sadly no longer on these pages. Many thanks for all the kind support over the years, for reading my rants and visiting places I love to support. I wish you all a peaceful and joyous Christmas, and hope that you will keep in touch as I continue on my journey.

Ethicaltraveller.net, twitter.com/catherinemack and Facebook Ethical Traveller. You can also follow Catherine’s travels around Ireland on her app, Ireland Green Travel, available on iTunes app store

This article was first published in the Daily Telegraph

Tripadvisor, the travel reviews website, has removed the slogan “reviews you can trust” from its hotel listings, in favour of the phrase “reviews from our community”.

The website is currently being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following thousands of complaints from hoteliers about allegedly misleading and fraudulent reviews.

Although the slogan has been removed from the website’s hotel reviews, it still appears on reviews for other businesses, including restaurants and attractions.

Tripadvisor carries more 50 millions reviews which it claims are honest, reliable and written by “real travellers around the world”.

However, the online reputation company KwikChex.com has questioned the legitimacy of those claims. It believes that up to 10 million reviews are faked, and alleges that Tripadvisor does not do enough to authenticate its reviews or remove fraudulent posts.

Chris Emmins, the co-founder of KwikChex.com, said it has already been approached by more than 2,000 businesses, and is continuing to receive new complaints.

He also alleged that new evidence suggested TripAdvisor had “punished” businesses that make allegations of misconduct against it by placing a red warning notice or “red badge” on the hotel’s listing, stating that “TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that individuals or entities associated with or having an interest in this property may have interfered with traveller reviews and/or the popularity index for this property.” TripAdvisor refutes this claim.

Mr Emmins said such practices would “add weight to the evidence not only of abuse and lack of diligence – but also that TripAdvisor are not, as they have claimed, merely a distributor of third party comment.”

Emma O’Boyle, a spokesperson from TripAdvisor, refused to comment on the ASA’s investigation, but said the removal of the slogan “reviews you can trust” was unrelated.

“As with all marketing messaging, the wording used on the TripAdvisor site is constantly evolving to reflect different aspects of the business,” she said.

“The ‘Reviews from our Community’, which is now visible on the hotel pages, is also part of our ever-evolving communication efforts, this time highlighting our commitment to our all-important community. The description of TripAdvisor as a trustworthy source of travel advice and information remains used in other parts of the site.”

She added: “Red badges are used only in cases of significant abuse of TripAdvisor’s policies, where TripAdvisor has evidence that the property’s management, or individuals associated with it, have violated our policies on review collection or submitting fraudulent reviews. In such instances, a Red Badge provides not only a warning to the property but fair notice to TripAdvisor users to consider when reviewing the property.”

- Oliver Smith

© Telegraph.co.uk

Tourism Ireland recently asked what top experiences of Ireland you’d love to do this year and a massive 12,000 people responded.

So here is, drumroll please, Your Top 10

1. Kiss the Blarney Stone and get the gift of gab

2. Make friends with locals and enjoy the craic (good fun) at a pub session

3. Spend the night in a majestic castle

4. Discover Irish roots and experience the land your ancestors called home

5. See the ocean from the Cliffs of Moher

6. Explore Northern Ireland and walk in the steps of Finn McCool at the Giant’s Causeway

7. Taste the great food and drink of Ireland, starting with Guinness at the Storehouse in Dublin

8. Tour the Ring of Kerry

9. Attend one of our great music festivals

10. Play golf on ANY Irish course

If you travel to Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head, Dominic and Andrea will be glad to serve you at Caffe Banba – enjoy the fantastic views over a latte.

Caffe Banba website

View all self catering accommodation at Malin Head

Bed and Breakfast at Malin Head

The date has been set and plans are in motion to mark the tenth anniversary of the Glasgowbury Music Festival on Saturday 24th July.

The tenth anniversary of the small but MASSIVE festival will take place on the second last weekend of July and preparations are already well under way.

The submissions period will remain open until the end of March to give interested bands and acts the opportunity to be considered for a spot – click here for information on how to submit.

And bolstered with the recent success at the Irish Festival Awards where the festival picked up four awards – the most of the year – Glasgowbury aim to build upon that success to deliver a fun-packed musical extravaganza for all to enjoy.

So whether you’ve been before or are planning a first time visit, mark Saturday 24th July in your diaries NOW!

View Accommodation and Tourism Information in County Derry

View a Directory of Local Websites

The Glasgowbury Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Draperstown, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is considered Northern Ireland’s largest independent outdoor music festival.

The Glasgowbury Music Festival made its first appearance in the summer of 2000 as a gathering of local bands, acts and showcases to raise awareness for the local charity, the Ulster Cancer Foundation. The event was co-ordinated by locally revered singer/songwriter, Paddy Glasgow and the event is named after him. The name is a play on the prestiged Glastonbury Festival. Since its foundation in 2000, the festival has been growing in popularity and with each year, the event draws a significantly larger crowd than the previous year.

By 2008, the festival had expanded to four separate stages with several areas allocated to traders, small businesses, and alternative entertainment. In recent years the event has enjoyed significant media coverage, with BBC Radio Foyle and RTÉ 2FM often broadcasting live throughout the day. Music journalists from various magazines such as Alternative Ulster and Hot Press have also been in attendance. Fans are invited to camp at the festival, with ground set aside to accommodate those who wish to do so.