Be vigilant, look out for unfamiliar requests and faces, but don’t let terrorism rule your life – words of advice for London agents from their Northern Ireland counterparts.
Two weeks after the IRA announced further decommissioning and after decades of living with the troubles, agents in Northern Ireland have offered words of comfort to agents in London faced with the threat of terrorism following recent bomb attacks.
Donaghadee-based Standtown Travel managing director Alan Couser said: “Living with it day to day, you adopt a different stance on vigilance. You are more aware of what people look like and make sure no-one leaves bags behind in the shop.”
Couser, also Worldchoice regional delegate for Northern Ireland, worked in an agency in High Street, Belfast in the mid-1970s at the height of the troubles. “I was evacuated from the agency I worked in two or three times a week in the 1970s. We used to go to other travel agencies to use their telephones and we all looked after each other. All of us became close friends.”
Couser, whose agency is 2O miles east of Belfast on the coast, advised worried agents to pay attention to everyone who comes in. He added he had “no doubt” Northern Ireland would see an increase in tourism following the latest disarmament statement from the IRA.
Bangor-based Feherty Travel MD Raymond Parker said: “Terrorism has been around for so long in Northern Ireland, but it’s still a shock for people in London who don’t usually see anything like this.”