Joe Neville: Protect Tourism, Don't Kill the Golden Goose

Go raibh maith agat, lás ciann Comhairle. Delighted to stand here and discuss tourism, something that is of national importance and national significance and I suppose one thing that we have across the country, one thing we have in common is the need for tourism. And I think we had one very positive step with this government that we indeed put tourism under the economic brief. And with Minister Peter Burke in attendance I know we've got someone with a keen watch especially on tourism because it does show how tourism can impact. It's obviously great when people come visit the country but ultimately what they do is they spend money in our economy. They spend money positively, we all do it ourselves, we go on holidays, we go around the country and what we do is we leave money behind us. And obviously look, as a country we have to be careful, as towns and villages we have to be careful. We have to ensure that we don't try and take too much money. We can't kill the golden goose. And that's something we have to be careful of from our own economic perspective that we do keep an eye on prices, we do keep an eye on car rental prices, we do keep an eye on hotel prices, we do keep an eye on the lattes and the scones potentially costing up to a tenner. They're the things we have to watch because we have to ensure that Ireland remains a place to come to visit, that not only will you get a great experience but that it won't cost you a fortune. And in fairness that is something we have to keep an eye on. Ireland, as Deputy Byrne outlined earlier on, has had a great tradition of tourism coming from the US, considering the amount of people that went abroad. And that's something through different times where it was something we were reliant. Movies like Ryan's Daughter sold Ireland to countries like America and indeed since then Ireland has benefited economically from it. Tourism might be seen from a national perspective to have fallen down some of the levels of importance, but we do know for some areas it's massively significant. I see indeed one issue I want to talk about is how this government over the last number of years, and in fairness the previous government, has outreached in many different ways, especially to America through be it the American football, the college football games and indeed the NFL last year. We left a Ryder Cup coming and these events themselves can draw in thousands of new people and thousands of eyeballs indeed on the TV and they can have a massive impact. And I think that's hugely important. Equally one thing I want to highlight is probably one issue, one item that we haven't highlighted enough to the tourists, something that we haven't sold enough. And this shouldn't also always be about sales, shouldn't be about money, but one thing is the likes of the GEA. Do we push it enough to tourists? Do people know and understand that the GEA, we have our own indigenous games? While we're welcoming the games in and we're highlighting them and showcasing them, I think it's important too that we showcase what we have in our doors. Traditions, games of our own, we're brilliant at exporting the music and the culture and bringing it in from those traditions, but ultimately we also need to look at it from a sporting place. And I think the GEA potentially has a great role to play. And obviously they've done their bit with the museum and everything else, but I would say it from a tourism board and from a national perspective, it's something we have to push more. And now as I get down towards maybe more of a parochial level, I suppose I look at North Kildare and Kildare in general, and I've been lucky, fortunate enough to be a mayor of Kildare. I've been fortunate enough to have been a councillor there for a number of years. But one thing I felt is that we probably haven't obtained it. We haven't had obtained enough visitors coming through. We have great, we have the golf courses, we have karting, we have the K Club, we have the horse racing, and indeed we have some places like Castletown House and other, and Kilkee Castle, we have got some great locations. And Lullymoor and in the northwest of the county, these are places that I think really can bring in more people because we're so close to the airport. And indeed, we shouldn't forget that when we talk about tourism, we shouldn't also miss out on the fact that internal tourism, people going from one side of the country to the other, spending their money, and I think we need to continue to push. I know into Kildare, I've done a huge amount of work and a huge amount of effort pushing and marketing the county itself, but I would look for any further assistance from the department if possible to continue that. And just as I raised Castletown House, I was lucky to be there on Monday, fortunate enough, and I got shown around for an umpteen time, but what we have had there is the OPW have been able to buy the land, and that's something now that we've bought the land, we've access restored, and I really think that is a cultural pearl of North Kildare, that's something that we should really continue to push as well. So, as I said, there's a lot of opportunities, a lot of possibilities, but in the good hands of Minister Peter Burke, there's no reason why tourism can't and won't continue to thrive for this country.