HE could see the hills of Donegal from the home where he grew up, but TV actor James Nesbitt has cut the county out of a massive tourism boost.
The Co Derry man pulled an incredible 4.6 million viewers for the first episode of his eight-part series ‘James Nesbitt’s Ireland’ which is being shown in Britain on ITV.
The prime time Monday evening programme however is yet another cliched view of Ireland – from the Blarney Stone to Belfast City Hall.
“James decided not to visit Donegal for the series,” said a spokeswoman for the producers of the programme.
In episode one, which aired last Monday the actor visited the south west coast of Ireland – an area already bankrolled by Irish tourism.
He kissed the Blarney stone and visited Dingle.
Later in the series the actor visits the Giant’s Causeway and the Cliffs of Moher – and even pops into seaweed baths in Co Sligo.
But there’s no mention of the Sliabh Liag, the Atlantic Drive or Glenveagh.
A former TV colleague of Nesbitt’s said: “I’m surprised at Jimmy. It looks like the ITV series script has been written by someone at Bord Failte. The only good thing is that he does actually head north. Just a shame he’s missed the best part of it.”
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