Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá an méid atá ráite ag daoine eile tábhachtach chomh maith agus aontaím leis. I thank the Minister of State for his response and I acknowledge it has taken us too long as a nation to commemorate what was, in effect, the Irish Holocaust. It killed 1 million people and dispersed another million across the world. As the Minister of State outlined, there is enormous potential to develop this, linking in with the descendents of the million people who spread around the world. There is also potential to inspire our own people to look to those areas of the world that are now suffering from starvation so that, as a nation once decimated by famine, we can continue to support those who are currently experiencing these inordinate difficulties.

What sort of financial resources are available to those involved in organising these important commemorations? They could not happen without the team of volunteers throughout the country who generously give their time to the initiative. I do not want to talk about The Gathering all the time but, given its importance in the development of tourism in 2013 and thereafter, does the Minister of State see an opportunity to link the work of the commemoration committees with the initiatives being taken in tourism in regard to The Gathering?

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