Trick of the eye

Trick of the eye

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A man walks past what looks like an old-fashioned grocery, complete with baskets of fruit and vegetables, bottles of liquor and, bizarrely, three geese emerging from its front door.

But the quaint scene is an illusion. This is actually an empty shop in the Northern Irish village of Bushmills, one of a number of derelict buildings that have been covered with artwork to make them look more appealing.

. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Bushmills, famous as the place where the whiskey of the same name was first distilled 400 years ago, is now seeking to boost its tourist trade with artwork and graphics that brighten up shop fronts left empty during the economic downturn.

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A girl points at the decorated doorway of an empty building.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A girl points at the decorated doorway of an empty building.

A woman walks past the building, adorned with the image of a pheasant emerging from the front door.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A woman walks past the building, adorned with the image of a pheasant emerging from the front door.

A boy cycles past a fake barber’s shop.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A boy cycles past a fake barber’s shop.

A jokey detail on the artwork gives a list of prices.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A jokey detail on the artwork gives a list of prices.

A woman walks past an empty building, with the image of a cow in the window.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A woman walks past an empty building, with the image of a cow in the window.

People stand next to a building decked out to look like a tailor’s shop.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

People stand next to a building decked out to look like a tailor’s shop.

Young men walk past an artwork.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Young men walk past an artwork.

A man walks his dog past a temporary barrier around a building site, which has been embellished with a rural scene.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A man walks his dog past a temporary barrier around a building site, which has been embellished with a rural scene.

A man walks past a building decorated with a chicken.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A man walks past a building decorated with a chicken.

A picture of a suit with a bowler hat hovering above it brightens up the window of another building.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A picture of a suit with a bowler hat hovering above it brightens up the window of another building.

A boy rides his bicycle past an empty house.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A boy rides his bicycle past an empty house.

A man stands in front of a fake cobbler's shop.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A man stands in front of a fake cobbler's shop.

A woman walks past another building covered in artwork.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

A woman walks past another building covered in artwork.

Youths pass a decorated shop.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Youths pass a decorated shop.

Images of men adorning the side of a building seem to look down on a busload of tourists.
. BUSHMILLS, United Kingdom. Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

Images of men adorning the side of a building seem to look down on a busload of tourists.

Home Of Irish Whiskey Woos Tourists With Fake Shops

One of the homes of Irish whiskey is fighting an economic downturn by investing in art projects to brighten up derelict shops and houses - an approach it says is boosting tourist numbers.

The idea of cosmetically enhancing villages in Northern Ireland, a British province still recovering from three decades of sectarian violence, gained much publicity before a meeting of G8 leaders there in June.

Bushmills, best known as the town where the whiskey of the same name was distilled for the first time 400 years ago, has taken the practice to an extent that the village is becoming recognisable for highly detailed artwork and graphics that brighten up its main street.

It is notable for the scale of the project - around a dozen vacant units have been given a facelift, including an old-style cobblers where a worker in a flat cap mends shoes. A bakery with appetising bread and cakes is depicted up the road with a barber shop and bookmakers nearby.

Windows and doors have been painted onto empty houses, complete with people observing passersby outside. Elsewhere, farmyard animals are drawn coming out of shop doors.

"Being a tourist village, there was quite a lot of emphasis put on trying to bring about an uplift and see could it be the catalyst for further economic development in the town," said Aidan McPeake, director of environmental services for the local council.

"That seems to be the case now, the village has been very popular this year. It's been very successful."

Two of the shops brightened up with art over the past year are no longer vacant, McPeake said.

The Northern Ireland government has spent 2 million pounds to tackle dereliction over the past two years and stickers were applied to windows in areas near the luxury golf resort where G8 leaders met to give the impression that business was booming.

But the "Brighter Bushmills Project" was set up by locals last year and supported by the local council, which is among the least well-funded in the North.

They raised 30,000 pounds, some of which was donated by the local distillery, and the shopfronts depicted are more detailed and colourful than elsewhere. A second phase, developed with the help of government funds, was completed in March of this year.

As a gateway to the Giant's Causeway, the famous collection of interlocking rock formations considered a World Heritage Centre by the United Nations' cultural agency, Bushmills hopes the initiative will make sure the tourists keep coming.

"Obviously locals would much rather see the properties filled and in use all the time but this is definitely the next best option," McPeake said.