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Carlingford Adventure Centre busier than ever despite Covid challenges

Centre looking forward to Halloween as restrictions due to end on October 22nd

“My kids think I go to work and just do ziplining for the day,” says Adrian McGreevy as he reflects on what has been a very busy summer for the Carlingford Adventure Centre. Founded in 1990, the centre started with water sports and then added a forest adventure park and more recently the Skypark, which offers more than 20 outdoor adventure activities for people of all ages to take part in, including aerial adventure, ziplines, footgolf, minigolf, archery, and mini jeeps.

“We also have a quarry for rock climbing and other activities,” McGreevy adds. “People can come to the Skypark and stay for the day and do a number of different activities or just one. It’s right on the money for families. The activities are safe and well supervised, and they keep kids away from technology.”

Restrictions

The public health restrictions have taken their tolls. “Like other industries, we went through a couple of lockdowns,” he explains. “When we reopened earlier in the year, we had schools which wanted to come but weren’t clear if they could. Then it was established that pods of 30 could come. More families are coming for the day as well. People are looking for things to do for a family day out. The parents can sit back and have a coffee and keep an eye on the kids at the same time. We had our busiest ever summer this year and our residential camps were by far the busiest we’ve ever had. September and October are looking very busy as well.”

With Covid restrictions due to end on October 22nd, he is already looking forward to Halloween. “We did the Forest of Fear in 2019. This year will turn the Skypark into the Scare Park.”

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The centre stays open all year round. “We get schools coming in December and January,” McGreevy notes. “We are lucky in that sense. We get to keep the core team here and we are not starting over every spring. We stay open for staycationers in the winter months and things are looking good. A lot of adventure centres closed down over the last few years as a result of Brexit, Covid, and insurance costs, which are a nightmare. We have been fortunate, and we still have our core team together and are looking forward to the autumn and winter and 2022.”

Barry McCall

Barry McCall is a contributor to The Irish Times