Mr. Denis Brady:

The Deputy has made a very good point. The currency factor has always been a reason as to why there has been a North-South agenda in regard to where people shop. Newry is suffering dreadfully, as are we in Warrenpoint. We see ourselves as more of a tourist area, but we do not have the tourism. Both Mr. Boylan and I are from the Warrenpoint chamber, the smallest chamber. The Newry chamber members were not able to attend today. We felt badly let down when we did not get the Narrow Water bridge, mentioned by Senator Quinn. That was a huge disappointment to us in Warrenpoint.

From the tourism point of view, the whole Carlingford region, north and south, is huge. When people who have not visited our area see the region, they say, "My goodness, look what you have got here". However, what have we been able to do about it? We have not done enough because we have not tried to. The North-South tourism agenda is what we want to drive forward as an initiative. Let us forget about the fiscal problems because they will always be there. As Mr. Malone said, if corporation tax is reduced, that will be a big issue that may not help us all go forward.

Again, it is a bit like the shopping. The gem is tourism. We do not have the beds to accommodate tourists at present but we could have them. In Omeath, a man from Newry has a hotel with approval for 40 plus beds. In Warrenpoint we have a small hotelier who has approval for additional beds but we need something structurally sensible from the North-South viewpoint. That is hard to achieve but with the co-operation of the chambers in Newry, Warrenpoint and Dundalk on this new initiative we are determined to flag everything that is good and go forward with a much more positive attitude. It does not help to think about the weak euro against the strong sterling but if one goes to Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor, County Down, on a Saturday or Sunday or any day of the week, one will see cars from the South and not just from the Border areas. Many people are coming to the North but we do not have the beds in our area. Tourism in Northern Ireland is from the north coast, the Fermanagh lakes and the Titaniccentre. They take them up from Dublin to the Titaniccentre and they drive through Newry and bypass us all the time. We need to get that highlighted, which is what this new initiative is all about, and we have to drive it very hard. Following the failure to deliver the narrow water bridge for €26 million, that project is off the agenda now. It is much more about an infrastructure that embraces not just a bridge and a link but a great deal more. We are determined to flag that.