A tourism delegation from Clare that will travel to the US today to promote the county as a 'must visit' destination for American tourists has defended its decision to go ahead with the trip. The delegation which had up to 12 members previously has been cut to three.

The group will attend the Milwaukee Irish Fest in Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, where it will showcase the tourism product on offer in Clare to as many as 150,000 festival-goers. The festival, which runs from August 19th-22nd, was established in 1981 by members of Milwaukee’s Irish community and takes place in the 74-acre festival grounds.

Clare’s presence at Irish Fest was established in 2001 by former mayor of Clare and current chairman of the Clare tourist council, Flan Garvey. He has strongly defended sending a delegation to the festival despite the current economic climate.