Massive, massive news for Ireland's tourism industry.

Spike Island in Cork has been named as the top travel destination in Europe, ahead of the likes of the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and Rome's Colosseum, at the World Travel Awards in St. Petersburg. The island is a 104-acre site near Cork Harbour and marks Ireland's third victory in a row. The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin took the honour in 2015, with Belfast's Titanic Museum triumphing last year. A post on the Spike Island Facebook page read: “We beat off the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower and more to win the highest award a tourist site can win. We also became the first ever site outside of the capitals to win this award. “An enormous thank you to Cork County Council, Fáilte Ireland, those in Cobh with the vision to fight for Spike, our visitors, and most importantly to our incredible staff and tour guides, whose passion and hard work have made this a deserved award.” Spike Island reopened in June 2016 and is accessible by boat from Cobh. A monastery in the sixth century, it became a prison under the rule of the British in the 1800s before it was handed over to the Irish state in 1938. It was used once more as a prison - under Irish rule this time - between 1985 and 2004. There were also awards for Sandymount Hotel in Dublin, named Europe's leading green hotel, while Dublin's Convention Centre was crowned Europe's leading conference centre.