Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I appreciate that no decision has been made to date. I hope the various contributions to this debate, such as the community interjection, the public meeting and all the different observations and opinions, are taken on board. I welcome the fact that An Post officials have agreed to meet public and community representatives. I am conscious that an array of political personnel is involved in this. I am working quite closely with Councillor Mickey Doherty in the area. I appreciate the complete and comprehensive update he has given me.

We need to look at where we are at as a country. The argument we hear from the Executive is that we need to do more with less. That is the mantra. It can be political dynamite to buy into that agenda and vote on that basis, because it can involve rationalisation of hospitals and primary schools. While I can accept aspects of that difficult argument, the philosophy I espouse is that I am looking to the future; in this case, the future of Greencastle as a port and the future of Donegal as a county. Historically and traditionally, County Donegal has been neglected. I accept that partition has played a part in that. There can be a perception that it is in Northern Ireland. During the era of the Troubles, people were reluctant to travel to Donegal. International tourists were more inclined to fly into Shannon Airport or Dublin Airport. Americans were not inclined to travel any further north than County Clare or County Galway.

The future of our region is changing. As a businessman in my local parish said to me, our county has had one of the best summers ever. That was a big thing for him to say because he has been around for a while. He said it might have been the best summer ever. That trend is going to continue. People from places like Wexford, Germany and America will be willing to travel northwards. Greencastle will be the entry point from Northern Ireland. As more people come to stay in County Donegal, the number of people travelling through Greencastle will increase. I strongly urge the Minister to make the point to An Post - I will do so at a meeting tomorrow morning - that Greencastle is not a peripheral area, even if it might look isolated on a map. It is part of a wider community that incorporates many people from Northern Ireland who come to the area on a temporary basis, perhaps while staying in holiday homes or visiting as day tourists. The number of people who contribute to the local community in this way will increase as time goes on.

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