Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

They will have it in Carlingford. The Minister will have to go to it but there will be no poitín for him while he is working.

I might take a parochial leaf out of the Minister's book - he will have been invited to every country in Ireland by the time he leaves the House - and point out that in Sligo we will climb Ben Bulben and Knocknarea, play music in the Coleman Centre, have sea shanties in Rosses Point, we will have the Celtic Fringe Festival - we have our twin events as well - and most of all we have William Butler Yeats. I could not possibly fail to mention him. The Minister's Department has been very generous in its understanding of how we would like to reconnect with Yeats. As the Minister will know, I have a very deep interest in that, having launched Yeats Day last year. I have been working very closely with Jim Miley and The Gathering to create a bigger event, a poetic and literary event, which would celebrate the idea of coming home. The very strength of the two words "coming home" when one says them has an extraordinary resonance for people. When one says "I am coming home", it means something much different from other things one does in one's life. I am very keen to make that work.

The great strength of The Gathering is that it reminds us not only of our vast heritage and modern vibrancy but of our capacity to harness our energy and creativity, to pull together and put on a year-long celebration of what it means to be Irish and what it means to understand our roots, our past, our history and our people. It reminds us of our great céad míle fáilte tradition, which we ensure we do not lose in these modern times when people are much more brash, sharp and everything is quick and hurried and we do not have much time. The céad míle fáilte tradition is what is and what always was authentic here and what people still expect when they come here. We should celebrate that and remember we can be a little more laid back as that is what was always strong about Ireland.

I want to finish by referring to two events. There will be a gathering event in Limerick called "Recruit and Mobilise". It is not an event one would draw out at a first glance of the events. It involves a group coming from the US to work with the local rape crisis group to complete work on its new building. The Minister will know this is the start of the area of volunteer tourism - I can never easily say that term, it is a mash-up term. There is a big growth in this area. I would love to see the Minister's Department supporting that through a particular initiative, perhaps through Fáilte Ireland. The Irish volunteer spirit is very strong. Leitrim takes the lead in that in terms of the number of volunteers but we are all volunteers in Ireland. Therefore, we would be able to reach out to other countries in the world and develop a very strong volunteer tourism industry, of course, underpinned ethically.

Can the Minister outline what will happen in 2014 and beyond? The Gathering has been a great umbrella and it is a great initiative. I will do everything I can to assist and I particularly want to acknowledge Jim Miley's work in this area. I know that sustainable projects are part of this. I am not suggesting it has to keep going in the same guise but what is the Minister's goal or dream for what The Gathering could be as we continue on? I hope the many initiatives that have started will continue. I thank those locally and nationally who have got the finger out and said "Let us get up and do this and let us have a good time".