Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope that funding for Sligo will continue. The allocation of €4,500 this year is the same as the amount allocated last year. I have no doubt it will be put to good use on Friday night. While in Sligo in March, I visited the Hawk's Well Theatre, which has received capital grants from the Department. The Hawk's Well Theatre is a 340-seat theatre which hosts a diverse programme of arts and entertainment, including professional and amateur drama, a wide range of music from traditional and jazz to opera, dance, pantomime, children's theatre and comedy.

On 19 May I attended the national Famine commemoration in Sligo town. I also visited the Model, home of the Niland collection, which features one of the largest public holdings of works by Jack Butler Yeats. It also features a broad range of traditional and contemporary works by artists, including Norah McGuinness, Dorothy Cross, Alice Maher, Clodagh Emoe, Eamon O'Kane, Seán McSweeney, Estella Solomons and Paul Henry among others.

I also attended the launch of Project Ireland 2040 at the Institute of Technology Sligo on 15 February 2018, when we announced the details of almost €1.2 billion in capital spending plans for my Department.

See this speech in context