Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I join with those on all sides who have once again encouraged Ministers to wear the green jersey across Europe. In the ongoing debate, I was heartened and taken aback by an editorial in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times which lauded the fact Irish Ministers are going abroad, and went so far as to say it was an imperative and suggested there were elements in the media that had been controversial about the issue in the past. I was astonished because there was a collective attack by all of the media in recent years, particularly when Fianna Fáil was in Government, that this was about junketing. Now, all of a sudden, in this brave new world, it is an imperative. It was always an imperative that we went abroad during St. Patrick's week.

I compliment once more Tourism Ireland and its CEO, Niall Gibbons, for the outstanding work in establishing the green lights on iconic attractions across the world, from Niagara Falls to Sydney Opera House and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For the next week, little Ireland will be the focus of world attention. Jimmy Crowley, a great folk singer from Cork, recorded a song many years ago that I will paraphrase by saying we will all be Irish tonight; everyone abroad will be Irish for the week and I hope, with the help of Ministers, Enterprise Ireland, IDA, the Irish diaspora and all of those networking throughout the world for the week, that it will result in the attraction of more visitors and more jobs. I applaud them for their efforts.