Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We recognise that this is a technical Bill and no one will oppose it. We accept the point that Fáilte Ireland has a job to do in selling this State and the entire island, which is what we want it to do.

No different from anyone else, I will extol the virtues of the part of the world where I live. We will start with the wonders of the Boyne Valley and go right through to historic Drogheda, including the horrors of Cromwell. County Louth is the land of Cú Chulainn - Baile Átha Fhirdia to Knockbridge, where I am from, and Dún Dealgan to the Cooley Peninsula, home of the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

We all know that certain actions can be taken to facilitate Louth. We have never sold our part of the world. When speaking about the northern part of the island, there must be cross-Border considerations. Some of the Carlingford-Omeath-Newry greenway, which covers North and South, is already done. It is to be facilitated. There are particular safety issues. Councillor Antóin Waters has been dealing with Louth County Council and other stakeholders in that regard. The greenway must be delivered.

I accept some of what has been said, in that we must get a handle on public liability insurance. This is an issue for businesses, community groups and anyone who is trying to provide the sorts of service that families and children will be looking for if we get them to this wonderful country.

The Narrow Water Bridge will open up the connection between Omeath and Warrenpoint. Wondrous things can be done. There are the glories of the Cooley Mountains all the way through to the Mourne Mountains. We could put a serious amount of effort into selling that part of the world.

Covid-19 was probably very useful for many people who lived there because it caused them to suddenly realise the resource on their doorsteps. We must, however, sell this to a wider audience and there is definitely room to do this. We all know the issue we have with housing, homelessness and not having dealt with vacant buildings and all those other issues. We really must get a handle on this. We know the issues there are with hotels, some of the mitigating circumstances regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the work we are doing in that regard, but we need to get a handle on this situation before it impacts all the other aspects of tourism.

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