At an Údarás na Gaeltachta Board meeting in Cill Airne last Friday (29 October) the Board approved a capital grant of almost €100,000 to Mara Beo Teo to assist the company expand its product offering and develop a unique exhibition centre.
Mara Beo Teo plan to develop a polar penguin exhibition centre adjacent to the aquarium which will house up to 10 penguins in an area with a temperature similar to that of their own natural environment in the Antarctic. Development is expected to commence shortly and it is anticipated that the centre will be open to the public by Easter 2011.
Éamonn Ó Neachtain, Regional Manager, Údarás na Gaeltachta, said that “Mara Beo Teo is one of the most strategic tourism initiatives in the country. The centre is visited by approximately 100,000 tourists annually and this new development, with an investment in excess of half a million euro, will help attract new tourists and returning visitors. It is of the utmost importance that companies continue to expand and invest in new products. This new investment by Mara Beo is guaranteed to further promote tourism and attract visitors to the Corca Dhuibhne peninsula, increase employment and benefit the local economy in general.