Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply and for visiting Lough Gur in County Limerick recently to attend the launch of the book by Ms Rose Cleary, The Archaeology of Lough Gur. I thank Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, through the Minister's offices, for visiting St. Kieran's Heritage Association in regard to the celebration of the finding of the Ardagh chalice 150 years ago.

With regard to heritage consultation, I would like to take matters a step further in regard to county towns. We should use our heritage and culture to market those towns and enhance how they are perceived. We should encourage an influx to the towns and drive industry in them. My town, Rathkeale, has the Augustinian Abbey, Castle Matrix, Holy Trinity Church of Ireland, the Palatine Museum, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church an a Victorian courthouse. Mr. Ernest Walton, the Irish physicist famous for splitting the atom, spent part of his childhood in Rathkeale. The tenor Christopher Lynch is from Rathkeale, as was Seán Ó Faoláin's mother. All such facts should be used as a marketing tool to create an influx to a town. If something could be done between the local authorities and the Department to drive such an initiative, through social media or above-the-line advertising, it would generate more industry. As we know, the arts and culture are now migrating to digital platforms. New occupations are being created, particularly in the visual arts and also in the sound arts.

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