The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

By David Thorpe

A top Irish airport is appearing on British screens following the launch of its first television ad campaign to attract tourists to the west of Ireland.

Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK) has this week launched its first ever televised ad campaign in Britain.

It aims to attract British holidaymakers to the west and north-west of Ireland, where hill walkers and hikers, music fans and fishermen have plenty to do and see within a short distance of Knock airport.

The commercials will run on all of the major television stations — including ITV and SKY.

And they will feature scenic views of mountains and lakes, which should help to make the west of Ireland one of the top tourist destinations in Europe.

IWAK’s Annette Kearney said: “This airport is one of the success stories of Irish aviation. We added two new routes last year and our passenger numbers are increasing all the time.

“This ad campaign should ensure that more tourists come through this airport and the knock-on benefit is that they will spend money in the region, benefiting everyone.”

Knock was originally created as an airport to serve the nearby religious shrine but has grown in recent years to be one of the main routes for returning emigrants visiting their homes in the west.

And while the airport is popular among the Irish community in Britain it remains something of a secret to the tourists from Britain.

That’s something which the airport and Tourism Ireland, who are co-producing the ads, hope will change with this latest marketing drive in Britain.

Airport officials hope that the demise of the Aer Lingus flights to Shannon from Heathrow will increase demand among passengers to use the Mayo airport.

The hope is to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, with tourism now the biggest single source of employment in many western counties.

Direct flights to Knock are available from a variety of British airports including Birmingham, London Stanstead, East Midlands, London Luton, and Bristol.

All of those airports already serve large Irish communities anxious to return home to visit family and friends.

Now the hope is that with 72 direct flights a week from Britain to Knock — tourists from around the country will soon be packing their bags and sampling the delights on offer in the west of Ireland for the first time.