Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising this matter. He has accepted that we are doing well and are using St. Patrick's Day not only as a celebration of our Irishness but also as a platform to undertake other cultural events at home and internationally. Of course we can do better. For that reason, I will have a meeting in early April with Culture Ireland, which is a representative group, Tourism Ireland, which deals with the international marketing of Ireland, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, given its connection with the embassies and consulates general around the world, towards establishing an international programme. During the Irish Presidency, the Culture Connects programme proved how effectively a cross-Europe cultural programme could work. We can also probably improve the quality of our parades across the country while recognising the major effort that, for example, schools and arts organisations put into making floats and attractive parades, which are attracting about-----

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