merrion street

Mr. Brian Hayes, TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today congratulated the eight heritage sites, all managed by the Office of Public Works, on their Silver Merit Award of Excellence 2013. The coveted ‘Visit Merit’ Awards are presented annually by CIE Tours International and are given in recognition of excellence in Irish Tourism. Award winners are chosen following independent evaluation of CIE Tours customer surveys.

The eight OPW heritage sites that are recipients of the Silver Merit Award for 2013 are:

1. Glendalough Visitor Centre, Co. Wicklow

2. Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly

3. Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin

4. Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny

5. Dún Aonghasa, Aran Island, Co. Galway

6. Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, Co. Meath

7. Donegal Castle, Donegal Town

8. Dublin Castle, Dublin

Minister Brian Hayes congratulated the eight sites; “I’m delighted with the news of the Silver Merit Awards for eight of OPW’s heritage sites. These awards are a welcome recognition of the professionalism and dedication of the staff involved and their pursuit of excellence in tourism. Recently published figures have shown that 2013 was an encouraging one for Irish tourism, with an estimated 6.7m overseas visitors coming to Ireland. I’m proud that the OPW has been recognised as offering a quality experience to those visitors and I’m sure we will continue to do so in 2014.”