It was our biggest industry and we wanted more of it. Now that we're swimming in chips and share options and all the accompanying bank-notes, Tourism is not such a national priority. The work has been done, however, and there are more people than ever visiting Ireland now. Over two million people flooded through Dublin last Summer alone, an incredible feat, outstripping the entire native population of the place as they came and saw.

There's no shortage of work in the tourism sector either. And there are an increasing number of courses designed to produce people able to fill the jobs. Failte Ireland is the watchdog for all in the business: it implements a national system of assessment and certification for hotels, restaurants and anyone providing tourism services. It also provides a section on it's website that intends to act as a guide for students who wish to pursue a career in tourism. 

Unsurprisingly there is a considerable choice of part-time courses in Dublin; colleges providing education in this area include Portobello College, DBS, DIT and also, further afield, in Dundalk IT.