Holiday charters into Shannon are down this summer. At first the locals suspected they had been "stolen" by Farranfore or Knock. However, the Limerick-based Mr Pat Dooley, of Dooley-Rent-ACar, has discovered where some of the missing French charters have gone. To Dublin.
"French tour operators switched from charters to Shannon to scheduled services to Dublin when Ryanair began to fly from Beauvais," he said.
The figures for Dublin Airport show it is booming One day in June was the busiest in its history. Mr Paddy Fitzpatrick, of Fitzpatrick hotels, says his flagship hotel in Killiney is "flying", while the hotels in Cork and Bunratty are quieter. He notes, however, that spending in bars and restaurants is down.
Ms Mary Bowe, of Marlfield House, Gorey, Co Wexford, is enjoying the benefits of her east coast location. Since she is close to Rosslare, about 30 per cent of her business is British. "They adore Ireland. For many of them it's their first time coming here."
Ms Bowe says she is certain she will have a bumper year.
Marlfield is a member of the Blue Book, a collection of upmarket country houses and restaurants. Ms Hilary Finlay, of Blue Book, says her members' business is down about O.5 per cent so far. She points to a worrying trend, especially for the purveyors of gourmet food.
"The French market is down. In fact Ireland has been losing ground there for some years."
Another member of the Blue Book is Cashel House, in Connemara. President de Gaulle spent part of his 1970 holiday there and it has been a favourite of French tourists since.
However, Mr Dermot McEvilly says while the French accounted for 80 per cent of his business 10 years ago, "the French have disappeared over the past three years".
He complains that Aer Lingus has dropped a number of special programmes it had out of France. "When I asked them why, they said because Ryanair had come into the market. I told them it seemed to me this was all the more reason to compete."
Not all Dublin hoteliers agree that the capital is a licence to print money from tourism. Mr Noel O'Callaghan, who owns the Mont Clare hotel, the Davenport hotel and the new Alexandra hotel, says July and August "are the softest we remember for quite some time".
He blames a number of factors, including the enormous increase in hotel capacity in Dublin. "It's getting more and more competitive."
He claims the hotel construction boom in Dublin is being driven almost entirely by tax considerations, not by any realistic market demand. High net-worth individuals were investing in hotels to avail of the tax breaks.
He says this is fine for the wealthy person sheltering his or her income but it has created an excess of bedroom capacity that is unsustainable in the long term. He predicts meltdown in the Dublin hotel sector.
Mr O'Callaghan is not impressed with the statistics for Dublin Airport. "Aer Rianta counts everybody as a passenger, even a 12-year-old kid."
He asks what is the sense in attracting large numbers of low-spending tourists. "They are no good to me or any hotelier. I suppose we are better off with them than without them, but they are not going to spend £70 or £80 to stay in the Mont Clare."
Mr Pat Dawson, manager of Muckross House, in Killarney, Co Kerry, says they had 250,000 visitors last year, making it Kerry's single biggest attraction. Business so far this year is down about 5 per cent.
Like almost everybody, he blames the drop in the German market but also an increasing tendency for tourists to arrive in Dublin, Dun Laoghaire or Rosslare.
Although the debate about Dublin as against the rest will continue, on one thing there is universal agreement. The poor weather is not good for anyone.