AN adventurous Killarney Star Trek enthusiast is determined to boldly go where no space fanatic has gone before by unveiling a plan that could entice several hundred new visitors to the town every year.
Peter Clayton hopes to advance an idea that would beam up sci-fi fans from around the word and transport them directly to downtown Killarney where local businesses would reap the benefits of their spending power.
Enterprising Peter points out that according to official Star Trek storylines, Killarney is the birthplace of Chief Miles O’Brien – one of the most popular fictional characters in the series.
Battle bridge controller O’Brien, played by actor Colm Meaney in both the Deep Space Nine and Next Generation movies, is one of the most instantly recognisable characters, alongside Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Scotty and Data.
According to the scripts, Chief O’Brien is born in Killarney, on the Planet Earth, in September 2328 and claims to be a direct descendent of Brian Boru.
Series
The writers have O’Brien’s parents sending him to a music academy to learn to play the cello but, instead, he runs away to enlist in Starfleet, a storyline that unfolds in one episode in the Deep Space Nine series.
Peter Clayton, who works in Neptune’s Hostel in Killarney, believes the town could capitalise on the connection by erecting a Miles O’Brien related plaque that would prove a huge lure for Trekkies anxious to get a snapshot to Kling-on to.
“There is an estimated 100 million diehard Trekkies around the world and many of them are prepared to travel anywhere if there is any kind of a Star Trek link, no matter how small it is,” he said.
Tribute sites to Captain Kirk at Riverside, Iowa and Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in Linlithgow, Scotland are hugely popular with visitors every year.
“I’m not talking about providing anything costly or elaborate like a visitor centre or a major monument because a simple plaque would suffice. It could prove to be a major hit given that we are taking about one of the biggest ever movie and TV franchises,” Peter added.
Support
A native of North England who has been living in Killarney for the past six years, Peter said the official Star Trek fan club in Ireland has already pledged full support for his proposal and he is now hoping that some local business or community organisation might bring the idea to the next level.
“At the very least it would be yet another reason for people to visit Killarney and that has to be a real positive,” said Peter who adds that on a scale of one to 10, his interest in all things sci-fi is about seven.
“It hasn’t reached the stage just yet where I’m using glue to stick Spock ears to my head,” he laughed.
