Mr. Peter Hynes:

No, it is not. Such compliments are very much appreciated. When we started our journey to try to revive towns and encourage improvements to them, one of the places to which we would have looked would have been west Cork. In particular, we would have looked to Kinsale - where Billy Houlihan was involved - and everything that happened there. When it comes to marketing and product development, Kerry is streets ahead of the remainder of the country and not just in the context of football. I am not engaging in plámás. We still seek to emulate what those in Kerry have been doing for a long time.

I am an architect by profession and I worked as town manager in Westport for ten years. I am old enough, therefore, to remember the heritage towns initiative being launched circa 1991. That initiative kicked off a focus on historic cores as being an asset rather than a liability. While the money allocated in respect of the historic towns initiative was not that great, the initiative itself has been very valuable to Westport as a branding and promotional exercise. I do not have figures to illustrate its impact. However, it was more valuable in terms of perception than in the context of the level of investment.

The first issue to which I wish to refer in the context of Deputy Harrington's comments is gas. Those who live in County Mayo happen to know a bit more about gas than their counterparts in most counties. We have come through 12 very difficult years in respect of the relevant project. No more than in war, truth was the first casualty during those 12 years. One would have had to have lived through it in order to appreciate the amount of misinformation and damaging material put out by people who, for their own reasons, opposed the project. There is a danger that the same thing will happen in the debate on fracking and this is something we need to avoid at all costs. The UK report - which is the definitive one at present - states that it if is done properly, there is no environmental damage. That is the point from which we should start.

In the context of community enterprise and employment, there is always tension with regard to where we spend our money. There is always a need to cut hedges, fill potholes or whatever. We are involved in discussing budgets at present and, on balance, the members of the council greatly appreciate the fact that our job is to cater for communities, generate employment and support enterprise. Tourism is a very fast win for everyone, including all of our elected members. That is why we have their support. The budget for this year is going to be trebled but we will have to wait and see how this is dealt with in the budget debate. As a result of the involvement of the NRA, we are less involved with roads than use to be the case and we are also withdrawing from water services, although not precipitously. This means that our role in the area of community enterprise and employment is going to be much bigger and stronger and more important than heretofore. It is Government policy to get us involved in this regard. Access is a major issue and I will ask Ms Grehan to discuss the airport and matters relating to it.

Deputy Tom Fleming referred to the personal touch. There are two aspects to this which we consider important and which should not be underestimated. The first of these is the power of the county jersey. There are times when we are stronger as regions or as a country, such as on St. Patrick's Day. However, there are other times when the county jersey paves the way into places one wishes to go. It is a question of using the jersey at the appropriate time. The power of elected representatives must also be taken into consideration. People should never underestimate the important role played by those who represent the people of a county, particularly at functions, events, etc.

It is estimated that 5% of the 70 million people across the globe who claim to be part of the Irish diaspora have roots in County Mayo. This is actually a guesstimate and the figure could be much higher.

I thank Deputy Griffin for writing his blog. Anyone who comes to County Mayo and writes a blog about it is most welcome. If he comes back, we will see if we can show our appreciation in some way. We might even get him into Matt Molloy's pub.