Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I would certainly like to meet with him. The national sail training programme was an important programme. It enabled skills building, team building, and the kinds of skills in boat building that we need as an island nation and not just sail training. The Asgard II was a regular visitor to Killala Bay, in particular to mark the French arrival in Killala in 1798. Even before I became a member of this House I regularly witnessed the benefits that it had for participants, and theAsgard has a long association with the State.

The Minister has a proposal in front of him, and I believe that everybody can agree on it in the context of a sail training, skills building and team building programme, and that it should be done on an all-island basis. Is it not appalling that the opportunities the programme can present are being delayed because of political intransigence or political disagreement? This is bigger than politics. This surely is a programme that can be provided even in the political difficulties we are experiencing, because of the bridges that it builds and the experiences that it gives to those participants. Those experiences should be shared without a problem around borders. I would certainly like to meet with the Minister. He has a particular interest in this and it is something that everybody should have an interest in.

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