THE LAST COUPLE of days have been a bit hectic, because of the flight disruption. I’ve just left a group waiting up in Belfast to fly home. It’s Murphy’s Law: just when you think a tour is over and nothing can go wrong, it does.
I’ve been a working member of the Association of Approved Tourist Guides of Ireland for the past eight years. Prior to that I did a load of different things: a little drama, a little teaching, some writing.
I was helping a friend do guiding exams in Amiens Street, and it appealed to me, so I did the course myself. Guides tend to be older, and I think that’s good. You need to have lived a little to start telling people about your country. It’s half acting and half teaching. Once you get into it, it’s addictive: you can’t give it up.
I do everything from corporate and incentive trips to private individuals who book tours through the AATGI website. You’re trying to promote the country as much as you can and help boost the economy, too.
During the peak season I could be working 14 days straight on a tour, but that would be exceptional. December to February is dead, but after that it’s pretty consistent. It’s certainly not a nine-to-five job.
On a typical day I’d be up at 8am, to be in town an hour later. If it’s people on their holidays I like to make it later. Some companies want tours that are almost an assault course; it’s like boot camp they want to fit so much in. In such cases the hours can be very long, maybe until a dinner at Dublin Castle is over at 2am. I have to stay and keep an eye on them, make sure everyone is happy.
Mostly if we’re touring, whichever hotel we stop at will look after me and the driver and give us our lunch.
I tour the whole country, but Connemara is my favourite, because I’ve family connections there. I never tire of going through the Maam Valley, the open road in front of you and being your own boss. Yes, you have to liaise with the driver and have an itinerary to follow, but the content you put in a tour is all your own. The key is not to overload people with big blocks of information: just take the pace easy and make sure they are looked after.
I love getting questions, but invariably it’ll be the one I don’t have the answer to. Touring with Irish people can be particularly tough, in that they are quite hard taskmasters. Luckily I’m a magpie, and I collect information. I get a great buzz after a tour. You leave people happy, impressed with your country, hopefully, and having spent a bit of money. So everyone’s happy.
tourguides.ie
In conversation with Sandra O’Connell