23 May 2015
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Almost 50 Porsches descended on Kinsale today (23 May) as Porsche Club Ireland, with the support of Fáilte Ireland, complete their 2,000km Wild Atlantic Way driving tour at the Old Head Wild Atlantic Way Signature Discover Point. The convoy of Porsches crossed the finish line at 5pm in Kinsale today after the starting 14 cars set out from Malin Head on Sunday (17 May) and a special celebratory dinner is arranged for this evening.
Porsche Club Ireland teamed up with Fáilte Ireland to design the special week-long itinerary that brought the car enthusiast club the length of the Wild Atlantic Way. They stopped off at all 15 Signature Discovery Points along the way – making it the longest ever ‘run’ undertaken by Porsche enthusiast’s club. The fleet of cars took in much of the West Coast’s breath-taking beauty along including Sliabh Liag, Co. Sligo, Downpatrick Head, Co Mayo, Killary Harbour, Galway, The Cliffs of Moher, Loop Head, Co Clare, Dursey Island, Co. Kerry and Mizen Head, Co. Cork.
Porsche Club Ireland is the official Porsche club of the Republic of Ireland and currently has over 350 members. They hold a number of ‘runs’ (driving tours) across Europe each year, and this year they have chosen The Wild Atlantic Way as the backdrop of their 2015 driving tour which will extend across an unprecedented seven days as they travel from Malin Head, Co Donegal to Old Kinsale Head, Co. Cork.
Speaking about the trip, Fiona Monaghan, Head of Wild Atlantic Way, Fáilte Ireland said:
“We were delighted to be able to support Porsche Club Ireland with their Wild Atlantic Run. As well as a pleasurable outing for all involved, I am delighted to see that participants tweeted, blogged and photographed their progress. Since it was launched last year the Wild Atlantic Way is proving particularly popular with touring groups , whether motorists, cyclists or motorcyclists, and many of these are sharing their adventures online with the rest of the world and getting the Wild Atlantic Way brand out there.”
Each leg of the trip was co-ordinated by different drivers, all of whom are knowledgeable about the area and are experienced drivers. All drivers that took part in the ‘run’ were also equipped with Wild Atlantic Way route maps and the 150 ‘Secrets of the Wild Atlantic Way’ guide ensuring they didn’t miss a thing during their week-long trip. They also wore Wild Atlantic Way signature jackets and each of the cars involved carried a Wild Atlantic Way car livery in homage to the Porsche motorsport tradition and the excitement of driving the Wild Atlantic Way.
As well as being a unique event in itself, Fáilte Ireland will also be using imagery and footage of the ‘run’ to create compelling content to promote the Wild Atlantic Way overseas. To do so Fáilte Ireland has assisted Porsche Club Ireland to craft their itinerary and have provided them with significant digital support to assist them in sharing their experience with their substantial number of followers in the UK and US markets as well as with the wider ‘car enthusiast’ market. The drivers were also tweeting and posting content online in real-time using the hashtag #wildatlanticway, generating conversation and engagement with the Wild Atlantic Way proposition.
Porsche Club Ireland was established in 1998 it currently has 356 members from 32 countries across the country. Speaking on behalf of the entire club about their choice of destination, Kieran Twomey, Southern Region Coordinator a member of the organising team and Porsche Club Ireland Steering Committee said –
“The hospitality we experienced over the past week has been indescribable and I think it’s fair to say that every mile of our Wild Atlantic Run gave us a new smile and every gear change brought something new and exciting!”
