Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I encountered a protest group last night in Dundalk and what was not said to me was not worth saying to anybody. I was not accosted or hit with a bottle or water balloon or held in my car for two and a half hours, but it was noisy.

I must say some of the people protested quietly but, as usual, there is always a few. I spoke to the Tánaiste yesterday and I must say there was a quiver in her voice, even hours after this happened. I commend her and our colleague, Senator Katherine Zappone, on how they handled the situation, and also the Taoiseach, who was accosted in Sligo last night.

To conclude on a good news story, I read at the weekend that Shannon Heritage, which operates several tourist attractions in the south west of the country, including Bunratty Castle and King John's Castle, has seen a 12% increase in tourism numbers at these sites in the first ten months of the year, and this is most welcome. Shannon Heritage employs more than 300 people at peak tourism times. The Gathering was very positive and a tremendous tourism success in all parts of the country, including the south west, but the figures for the first ten months of this year have surpassed everything. These figures are being attributed to rise in visitor numbers due to the increase in capacity through additional services provided at Shannon Airport and the Wild Atlantic Way initiative. It should be noted that this year, for the first time, more than 1 million people visited the world-famous Cliffs of Moher. Tourism is alive and well in the south west region, which is to be welcomed by us all.