RESIDENTS OF TOBERCURRY PRAISE HIT TV SHOW: Normal People's put our town on the map

Big hopes for tourism and trade boost in Sligo after lockdown is lifted

- CATHAL AUSTIN

FOR viewers of the hit series Normal People, Sligo and its small town of Tobercurry has provided welcome respite from the drudgery of quarantine.

Lenny Abrahamson’s adaption of the award-winning book of the same name by Irish author Sally Rooney has been widely praised.

Viewers both home and abroad have been glued to the series which follows two young lovers from the fictional town of Carricklea in the West of Ireland and their on-off relationship.

The show garnered praise for its candid portrayal of sex and intimacy and its discussion of issues like consent.

Abrahamson has also managed to capture the beauty of Sligo and the north west, with Tourism Ireland using many scenes from the show.

For the town of Tobercurry, which provided the canvas for Carricklea, the impact has been significant. Tony Burke, a local mechanic whose garage was used in one of the scenes, said: “Well, it’s definitely put us on the map anyway.

“Please God when tourists start to come back they might come to the West of Ireland and see what we have to offer here.

“Our own town looked fantastic in the production and I thought Streedagh beach looked absolutely beautiful too – it just shows you how good this side of the world is.”

He told the Irish Mirror he admired the show for the way it dealt with “real issues”.