Seanad debates
Wednesday, 13 November 2002
Tourism Industry: Statements (Resumed).
Dublin and a few other cities have become popular destinations for stag nights and, while we welcome tourist revenues, we must keep an eye on such activities. Temple Bar is a wonderful area but it is not a place where I would want to be after midnight because it is not safe. I know this well because my son was attacked there. Many tourists are attacked there also. We must provide for the security and safety of tourists, and we have been lacking in that respect. It is bad enough for anyone to be attacked but it is somehow worse when it happens to someone who has chosen to visit our country of a hundred thousand welcomes or céad míle fáilte. Robbery, minor and more serious attacks should come within the tourism brief, in consultation with the Garda Síochána, in an effort to provide security for visitors. The Temple Bar area needs to be examined seriously in that regard.
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