Emerald Park has been announced as the new name of Tayto Park, the theme park and zoo in Co Meath formerly sponsored by the popular Irish crisp brand.

Tayto Snacks confirmed in February that it was ending its association with the Ashbourne family fun park, which was developed by the late Ray Coyle when he also owned the Tayto business. Coyle died in June, aged 70.

Charles Coyle, general manager of Tayto Park, unveiled the park's new name, and work is now underway to rebrand all elements of the park before the end of the year. The name was selected with international tourists in mind, with Ireland often referred to as the Emerald Isle by visitors.

When we announced that the name of the park would change, we were inundated with ideas from the public and it was wonderful to see such enthusiasm," said Coyle.

"We commissioned a piece of research and Emerald Park was the clear favourite. We will start next year with a new name and new brand throughout the park.”

In Association with

Niamh Reynolds, marketing manager of the park, said “We made the strategic decision to not look for a brand title sponsor but rather create a new brand – Emerald Park, which we hope will be supported next year by a number of strategic brand partners from various sectors – FMCG, energy, transport to name a few.

"We are actively meeting brand teams at present and we are very confident we will have the right partners in place for 2023”.

The long-term ambition of park management is to make Emerald Park one of the best family attractions in Europe.

Ground was broken over the summer on two new steel rollercoasters with a combined budget of €30m, and a new website and brand identity for Emerald Park will be unveiled in January.

Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd, the parent company of the park, predominantly owned by the Coyle family, made a loss of nearly €2m during a Covid-hit 2020, the last financial year for which full accounts are available.

Prior to the pandemic, the park recorded turnover of €18.8m and made a profit of €2m in 2019. The company extended credit terms with suppliers and banks in 2020 and reduced all "non-essential expenditure" at the park, which was required to close for several months.

At the end of 2020, the company had assets of €46.3m and liabilities of €27.5m

In securing planning permission for the new rollercoasters three years ago, the company forecast that visitor numbers would jump from 630,000 to 725,000 in 2023.

Photo: Charles Coyle.