A Facebook page promoting Doolin to tourists has been widely condemned for posting an April Fools Joke which has been criticised as “offensive.”
The post, which included a picture of a person jumping into water from high rocks, was posted on a page entitled ‘Doolin – Visit Doolin’ and was accompanied by an attempted joke stating that the Cliffs of Moher would be reduced in height for health and safety reasons.
The post offended many, including some who have lost loved ones tragically at the Cliffs.
In a statement, the Doolin Tourism Co-Operative Society, which has no affiliation to the page that produced the post, has labelled the material ‘disgraceful and upsetting’ and is reassuring all at home and abroad that Doolin remains a ‘friendly and welcoming’ village.
Later, in a post acknowledging the response, a user of the page accepted that the post “may have caused offence to some.”
The original post, and the later acknowledgement, have since been deleted.
Statement from Doolin Tourism Co-Operative Society (of no affiliation to the above page):
Since April 1st a Facebook page claiming to be representing Doolin has drawn attention to itself by publishing a disgraceful and upsetting April’s Fool post. The post has been
reported by various news and media outlets since then.
Doolin Tourism, as a co-operative of local businesses, is the only official organisation that promotes Doolin as a destination and has no connection with the “Doolin – Visit Doolin” page whatsoever. Doolin Tourism is the only page that represents Doolin and its businesses and strongly condemns the words and actions of the imposter.
It has been a long, continuous battle for Doolin Tourism and our community to get the offending page and its other associated pages removed permantently, as it is causing extreme stress to our community and now the wider public. An Garda Síochána have been made aware of the situation on several occasions throughout the years but have advised there is nothing they can do. The page has been reported to Facebook many times over the years as well as their posts, and even though they have been taken down temporarily at times, Facebook continues to allow this page to share hate speech and disturbing content. We hope that what happened yesterday isn’t repeated and that the offending page
is removed permanently this time. We would like to reassure the people who love Doolin so much, at home and abroad, that Doolin will always remain the friendly and welcoming village that they know. Doolin Tourism is working hard at promoting Doolin and nurturing the heart and soul of the village. We would like encourage you all to engage with Doolin Tourism and watch our video “Heart of Doolin” which really shows what
Doolin is about : loving and caring people.
