Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I welcome Mr. Gibbons. I tried recently to book the Harry Potter studio tour in London but there are only a few slots available between now and 2019. I welcome, therefore, the "Game of Thrones" projects near Banbridge. Anything that we can use to get tourists to come here is hugely important. "Game of Thrones" and the film industry in general in the North have been great for us. With "Star Wars", both in Donegal and in Kerry, they have had a bit of an uplift.

Mr. Gibbons talked about the areas in which Tourism Ireland has been very strong and how it does not expect them to last for ever. He also noted that Tourism Ireland is looking at new unique selling points to attract people to the island of Ireland. I agree that Ireland's Hidden Heartlands should include Fermanagh. However, there is scope elsewhere. For example, Arts Over Borders has done great work in the Border region. Those involved in this initiative are talking about developing a corridor comprising places associated with Yeats, Heaney and Kavanagh and that this could act as a unique selling point in terms of literary tourism.

I also wonder about the extent to which we are exploiting political tourism, North and South. When we took the children to Glasnevin in 2015, the tour was booked out. We got the last slot of the day. There is a desire and an appetite to learn about our political past as well. That is something for which tourists come here. If one ever tries to get into our office on the Falls Road on a summer's morning, one must run a gauntlet of hundreds of tourists. We should take every opportunity to exploit the fact that we can to get people into the country. We must show them what we have to offer.