John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 143 of 6 April 2004, which referred to the disturbances which occurred in the aftermath of the St. Patrick's Festival last March. In the newspaper article to which the Deputy refers, I referred to the scenes of public drunkenness, saying visitors tend to avoid such occasions, but I qualified my remarks by indicating that Ireland compared favourably with most other European destinations "in terms of the individual coming in and having a peaceful time."

It goes without saying that the kind of unacceptable behaviour and conduct we witnessed after the St. Patrick's Day Festival was unhelpful and could tarnish the festival's good international reputation. I was also seriously concerned that it could undermine the efforts of the State tourism agencies in promoting Ireland as an attractive tourist destination, as it was certainly not in keeping with the welcoming image being portrayed in our tourism promotional literature and, in particular, attendance at festivals and other cultural events here in Ireland.

I have already raised my concerns with the chairperson of the St. Patrick's Festival Company, who has overall responsibility for the organisation and promotion of the festival. I have been assured that the company will liaise closely with the Garda Síochána, the city council and the other relevant authorities with regard to all aspects of its planning for 2005 and beyond, with a view to minimising the possibility of a recurrence of this kind of behaviour on the streets.

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