Mr. John James O'Hara:

I run a tourism and technology business and our main business is a bed-and-breakfast and holiday village. We do tours from Ireland and Scotland. Tourism Ireland sells the whole of Ireland as a united product. We see a huge problem coming down the road as to who will fund Tourism Ireland. It came from the Good Friday Agreement to sell the island of Ireland as a product on the international stage. As a tourism business in Leitrim, we work closely with that body on an international basis. When selling a tourism product, one needs a two-year lead time. When funding was cut in 2008, 2010 was the worst year for tourism numbers. We need to know who will be funding Tourism Ireland on an international stage and how will we sell Ireland. Will it be marketed as half in the European Union and half outside of it? A tourist looks at a tourism product over a two-year period, identifying the product and developing a budget before visiting. We see massive problems coming down the road for our business.

Tourism Ireland has cut its forecasted percentage by 6% and we can respect why it has done so. This is a main product for rural Ireland along the Wild Atlantic Way. We sat here before discussing tourism policy in trying to get the Wild Atlantic Way up and running four or five years ago. We now have a very good product, with the Wild Atlantic Way on the west coast and Ireland's Ancient East on the east coast. The product now takes in entirety of Ireland. A tourist might come to Dublin, Shannon, Knock or Belfast but takes in the entirety of Ireland. As a small business approximately six miles outside Sligo, we see tourists as a major rural commodity. People staying with us eat in the local village and drink in the local pub.

We have approximately ten staff and the business developed from nothing. The other part of our business is technology and how we sell a product internationally. We attended meetings in Italy earlier this year and the issue arose. People asked if this would be a safe part of the world. It is the reality and the question must be asked of whether people see the Troubles returning along the Border. People want to come to a very safe area and they do not want to come where there could be trouble, especially if the product is on an international market.