Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is music to my ears. Speaking of music, the Minister will certainly have heard the song "It's a Long Way from Clare to Here". It is fabulous for one to step up on the pedals of a bike in my home village of Meelick, knowing that going north, one will pass through Galway and Mayo and ultimately get to Norway if one keeps following the route, and travelling in a southerly direction, ultimately get to Sagres in Portugal.

There are huge opportunities here. I know that the Minister's Department recently invested €70 million in a whole masterplan for developing Lough Derg and the whole mid-west tourism product, but there is so much tourism potential here. As we look to recover tourism beyond Covid, including our hotels, guesthouses and outdoor attractions like the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Folk Park and Moher Hill Open Farm, we should really focus on these signs that say that we are part of an 11,000 km European cycleway. There is colossal potential. Not every tourist wants to get on a tour bus, fly in on a jet or travel on a train. As we have seen in recent years, many of them get their saddlebags, go on a bike and tour the west of Ireland. Therefore, a promotional package around this initiative could reap massive rewards not just for County Clare, but all of Ireland.

See this speech in context