Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. Cawley the best of luck in his job. He certainly brings an enthusiasm and skill set to it that will be welcome. I followed his contribution on the monitor and am sorry that I was not present for all of it. In one sense, he is lucky to be working with a progressive and enlightened Minister who is open to change and innovation.

In the years I have been a Member, I have been worried by how people refer to the "potential" of Irish tourism as if we are always striving to achieve something that we have never quite realised. We probably never will realise its full potential, notwithstanding individuals' good work.

Like the witness I am loath to criticise organisations when I have not worked with them and I do not know for sure but from the distance from the tourism industry from which I am removed it strikes me that Fáilte Ireland will have a task in trying to bring people with it. Wheels move slowly and I am a great believer in having one supremo who is in charge of everything. Mr. Cawley may well go into the job and find so many elements impinging on the success or otherwise of his job, and they may be outside of his control. Many tourism bodies have set up some relationships with county councils, for example, or other developments. I do not mean to be patronising but although all these are well intentioned, they are often cases of everybody looking to do a job but nobody doing it. That is instead of having one organisation.

It can be quite difficult to shake off history, as Mr. Cawley knows, and his new job will be a big change from his previous work. He should not be afraid to ruffle feathers. Irish people in general - although I suppose it could be applicable to everyone - are creatures of habit and we have perceived ideas. When I think of holidaying in Ireland I think of Galway and Dunmore East, for example. I listened to Senator Mooney and Deputy Colreavy and by chance I ended up in the north Roscommon and south Leitrim area last summer as members of my family attended a music festival in Drumshanbo - the festival was named after Senator Mooney, I think - and I was "alarmed" by the facilities and what was on offer there. We have spoken about dormant industries and in this regard the Arigna mines are well worth a visit. I was informed of how parts of the English language evolved from mining. There is Lough Key forest park and Carrick-on-Shannon, which is hive of activity. If I go to England on holidays I do not head to Brighton or the "Galway" of England, as I am inclined to go to the Cotswolds or small villages.

It may be a job for Tourism Ireland rather than Fáilte Ireland to try to market the country. There are many different segments and perhaps we should have a position where the north east is X and the south east is Y, for example, in order to keep things simple instead of being all things to all people. My experience of a place boils down to standards, which may relate to a cup of tea, a hedge correctly cut and clean, correct signage. The witness mentioned pride of place. A tourist would not want to land at a beach in Rio de Janeiro or the Gold Cup at Cheltenham every weekend. People may want to go to a place where they can sit, have a bit of peace and a cup of coffee while learning about a locality.

I may be wrong but I believe the Irish regions are divided. Mr. Cawley is a native of Wicklow, which is designated as midlands-east and tied in with the likes of Longford. I remember doing a survey of tourism facilities in Wicklow, and the question was asked of how many people would be sent to Longford or Westmeath from near Greystones or Brittas Bay. Very few people would be sent that way, which is no reflection on Longford or Westmeath, which has its own beauty. Trying to market midlands-east could require a magician.

Mr. Cawley will not be short of advice, which may be right or wrong, and many people have ideas. He will sift through them and may decide to implement some. I have arrived in some places but ended up in the same spot two hours later. I do not know how many times we have come out of Dublin Airport and ended up God knows where. I spoke to the National Roads Authority, NRA, today again about signage on certain parts of the motorway in my own area. A tourist may come from the airport and at the first or second roundabout see the sign for Westport, which is a lovely town with many attributes, but not many people want to see the sign for Westport straight away. There may not be another sign for it for 60 or 70 miles. There is a role to be played with the NRA and Dublin Airport Authority and, for example, there may be directions for regions as people leave the airport. Perhaps we could have maps at the airport as people collect their luggage and if a group is going to Galway, for example, they would know it is in the west. I have gone astray as recently as a couple of weeks ago coming from the airport.

The Gathering was a great concept but I often thought we missed some points to a degree. My concept of The Gathering was to bring home people or relatives of people who may have left Ireland through the centuries. There is a project in Loughrea called Bring Them Home, although I do not know how successful it has been. One of my interests outside politics and sport is genealogy and local history and on the Internet one could track a Michael Cawley who may have left Ballindine or Ballyhaunis in 1830 and who may have a great-great-grandchild in Denver, Colorado. Those relatives may not be sure from where they came but perhaps people like that could receive an e-mail to invite them to Ireland for the summer. There would be merit in trying to set up a system like that which proactively attracts people to Ireland.

There is great interest in genealogy and a sense of belonging for people. There are more than 40 million people of Irish heritage in the United States. We must identify how to sell Ireland in Europe, although it is a Tourism Ireland issue. We are the most westerly tip of Europe, right at the edge of the Atlantic. There are many people in central Europe - in places like south Germany - who may not have seen the Atlantic, and there is much potential in selling Ireland as the western tip off the Atlantic.

I am aware of a group which made a submission about setting up an American Civil War trail that would take in Irish-American generals to tie in with the bicentenary of the war. My understanding is the trail in the United States is worth approximately €2 billion and we could replicate it from an Irish perspective. This involves fantastic ideas and knowledge but it has never become a reality here. I might get the group to send on the information, although Mr. Cawley will not take up every project he gets. Perhaps the project is lying on a shelf. We all have great ideas but we may find it hard to iron a trousers or shirt in the morning and everything after that is a plus.

Mr. Cawley alluded to the River Barrow and I do not know if he is familiar with St. Mullin's, which is close to Altamount Gardens. One could be at the Amazon basin, it is so amazing. Over the years I have raised the issue of vested interests, although that may not be the correct term. State agencies, in particular, may have a monopoly on ownership in an area. I saw a video clip from the 1940s or 1950s of Glendalough and it showed how boats would go from Glendalough to St. Kevin's Bed; if a helicopter is heard collecting people from the cliff in Glendalough now, they are trying to access St. Kevin's Bed, which cannot be accessed through the lake. Some may think it heresy but perhaps we could have an environmentally-friendly boat on the lake in Glendalough. Some people may say it would ruin the environment but most lakes around the globe have such amenities. It would be a huge attraction.

After all my pontificating I only have one question. Mr. Cawley has travelled much in his previous employment so what is the one element from abroad that he thinks we should have in Ireland? Perhaps that is unfair but has he ever thought that when he becomes chair of Fáilte Ireland, he would ensure signs are clean, for example?