Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Russell and thank him for giving his time to speak to us. Senator O'Reilly has touched on many of the aspects I was going to ask about, but I will raise some issues regarding what Mr. Russell mentioned. We have shared values and history, and we are closely related in many aspects, as evidenced by Mr. Russell's reference to our nations being cousins. Tourism is close to my heart, and Senator O'Reilly has already invited Mr. Russell to Cavan and Monaghan. I extend an invitation to my county of Kildare, with which Mr. Russell is also probably very familiar.

I will expand on some aspects of the sport and tourism links between the two countries, which will arise frequently as we draw closer to the post-Brexit era. Mr. Russell has commented on the tourism aspect. From a sporting perspective, we were drawn in the same rugby group only the other day, for example, and we are obviously going to be closer in this area as well in the coming years. I wanted to touch on the tourism aspect, in particular, because, as Mr. Russell said in his reply to Senator O'Reilly, increasing our contacts in that area will be so important post Covid. I am delighted to hear about the office in Dublin and I think we can replicate that in the bilateral relationships which are being built up. I again thank Mr. Russell for joining us and for his replies on the tourism aspect.