Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am coming to this with two hats: the artistic one, having worked in the Garage Theatre in Monaghan for quite a number of years before landing here in Leinster House, and my tourism and hospitality sector hat. As somebody who lives in a very rural neck of the woods in County Cavan, I have seen the demise of our local pubs, which were of great importance, and am now seeing our hotels going as well. I am really worried about the future of that industry. The witnesses have the answer to some of that with regard to expanding our night-time economy. I am very interested in the debate happening here today. We will continue with this. I am mindful that we need to find a balance and to extend our night-time economy and give our cultural institutions, artists and musicians time beyond midnight. On something Mr. O'Keeffe said, I have never seen the opening of an exhibition go on for seven or eight hours. The longest I have ever seen was an hour with a small cheese and wine reception. In my experience, people then flood out to the little pubs and restaurants around the town. There is a balancing act involved here. I am also very mindful of everything Mr. Moynihan said. Bailieborough had more than 20 pubs at one stage and is now down to three. Before the Covid pandemic, it had more than that. There is a meeting of minds here. It is just about extrapolating from this conversation the fact that we can do both.