Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking this very important Topical Issue this evening. Bunratty Castle in my constituency of Clare is almost 600 years old and King John's Castle in the neighbouring Limerick City constituency is almost 800 years old. These castles have withstood sieges, burnings and many battles waged outside their walls over the years. However, despite their physical bulk and durability, these castles and the beautiful folk park that adjoins Bunratty Castle do not, like many sectors of our economy, have the resilience to withstand the ravages of Covid-19.

Management of the Shannon Group that runs these sites through the Shannon Heritage company plans to close these sites early in January. It cites a massive downturn in international tourism, continuous loss-making since the onset of Covid-19 and the inability of the Government to underwrite the operational losses of a semi-State commercial company as the key reasons behind the imminent closure. These were the very same reasons that were to the fore last summer when the Shannon Group announced that from the end of August right up to the end of this year, Bunratty and King John's castles would be closed. Thankfully the Government intervened in late August and subsidised the incremental losses, thus keeping both sites open. This averted closure and prevented job losses. It is vital that the Government once again works with the Shannon Group to ensure that these sites do not close. They were once of strategic military importance to our ancestors and now they are of strategic tourism importance. The closure of both sites would be a massive blow to workers employed by Shannon Heritage and the domino effect on hotels, bars, restaurants and many others involved in the supply chain would be immeasurable. I call on the Minister to intervene urgently to save these sites from closure in January.

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