I welcome the opportunity to speak in the Chamber on this hugely important yet too often underestimated pillar of our national economy. Tourism is not and should not be a luxury add-on to our economic strategy, nor a seasonal afterthought. It is an extremely important component of our national economy, one that sustains many of our rural communities. It supports small businesses, preserves our cultural heritage and, in many respects, keeps rural Ireland alive. If we are serious about balanced regional development, we must be serious about tourism. It contributes billions annually to the Irish economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, many of them in rural counties where alternative industries are often limited. It drives demand for hospitality, transport, food production, crafts, festivals and cultural experiences. It is one of the few sectors that reach into every town, parish and county. Where tourism thrives, the entire nation thrives. When tourism is neglected, rural Ireland feels it first and hardest. Nowhere is this more evident than in my own county of Wexford. Wexford is a county whose identity, economy and social fabric are massively intertwined with tourism. We are blessed with natural beauty, cultural richness and a heritage that stretches from the Norman invasion via Baginbun to the 1798 Rebellion to the modern arts festivals which draw visitors from across the world. However, blessings alone do not sustain an economy; investment, vision and leadership do. Next year, 2027, is the year of the Norman. A few years back, I had the pleasure of hosting a delegation from Normandy, including the president of the Regional Council of Normandy, Hervé Morin. Normandy has a population of 3.3 million. Incredibly, the delegation had very little knowledge of Ireland's or Wexford's connection to Normandy. It is with areas like Normandy that we should be looking to connect via much bigger national investment. There is huge potential in that connection, particularly since Brexit. The people of Normandy used to send their children to England to learn English. Ireland now has a terrific opportunity because of the constraints after Brexit. If we look at a sister city of Wexford, Savannah in Georgia, it has huge historical connections with Ireland and Wexford. Some 57% of the population there trace their heritage to County Wexford. The city itself has a population of 170,000 people, yet last year it had 13 million visitors. If we compare that to Ireland, we had 6.4 million visitors. There is no direct flight to Savannah despite the huge connections. As an example, a 16,000 sq. ft Wexford bar has just opened in the heart of Savannah. I do not know if the Minister of State has been there-----

Sentiment score: 0.16

-----but it is a wonderful tourism addition and could be an embassy for our tourism industry. We also need to look to exploit, in a sustainable way, what is available on our doorstep, for example, our seas and rivers. It is estimated that between 8 million and ten million people participate in sea angling across Europe every year, generating an economic impact of between €8 billion and €10 billion. France has recorded 1.4 million recreational anglers. England and Wales show that, historically, participation reaches over 4.2 million, split between course, game and sea angling. Wexford hosted the world and European shore angling competitions in the recent past and will do so again, no doubt, in the future because of our dual coastline. It is a perfect area for angling, depending on the direction of the wind, yet we really do not pursue the opportunities that are clear in this sector, and it is something we really should be looking at. The attractions we see across the country are not just points on a map; they are economic lifelines. They sustain jobs in hotels, cafés, bed and breakfast accommodation, restaurants, taxis, shops and activity providers. They support farmers who supply local produce. They keep our towns vibrant and our villages open. In Wexford, tourism is not an optional extra; it is the cornerstone of our prosperity. Local authorities are expected to promote tourism, develop local strategies, support festivals, maintain public amenities and market their region, but they are expected to do all this with budgets that are wholly inadequate for the scale of the task. We cannot keep asking local authorities to deliver world-class tourism outcomes on shoestring budgets. It is unrealistic, it is unfair and it is holding back the potential of counties such as Wexford. If we want tourism to flourish, we must invest in the people and institutions that make it happen. Local authorities need substantial, multi-year, ring-fenced funding for tourism promotion, not ad hoc grants, once-off allocations or competitive schemes that pit counties against one another. What they need is predictable, strategic investment that allows them to plan, innovate and build long-term capacity. Let us imagine what Wexford County Council and all other local authorities could achieve with a properly funded tourism promotion department. We could expand international marketing campaigns. We could develop new and more greenways, blueways and heritage trails. We could support more festivals, and not just the flagship ones but the smaller, community-led events that give towns their identity. We can really do so much more with this product.

Sentiment score: 0.12