With Donegal beating Cork to get a place in the All-ireland final, 2012 it appears to be Donegal and the Northwests year: by weather standards if not in sport, not that the general public would know. For it appears that despite weather reports from Met Eireann that continually forecasted rainy weather nationwide, Donegal and the northwest of the country had a summer of sunshine and clear skies. So off has RTE’s weather forecasts been for the northwest that some local councillors in Donegal claim that the RTE meteorologists have neglected to accurately represent the whole of the country concentrating instead on the more well-known tourist counties of Cork, Kerry and Dublin.
While it is true that this summer the south and most of the country had some particularly wet months with many events and shows cancelled, up in the northwest in Sligo and Donegal the predicted forecast of constant rainy weather was way short of the mark with three months of sun and dry weather. So while most of the country in particular Cork and its surrounds got a drenching with heavy rainfall throughout the last three months, visitors to Sligo and Donegal were enjoying a fun summer taking advantage of its rugged and beautiful scenery, beaches, festivals and shows and not to mention the great surfing opportunities of which this region is famous for worldwide.
Despite the unequal representation in weather forecasts it seems though that Donegal is having its revenge and deserved time in the news and spotlight, at least on the national sporting pitch as they have knocked over favoured counties Cork and Kerry with Dublin still in the running to reach their first football final in 20 years. Whether they can go on to be football champions in 2012 is still open to question but in terms of weather and summer Donegal have already won over their more favoured rival counties.
So there you have it. For a relaxing sunshine holiday choose Ireland vacations. Wait what!?!?