John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion.

I welcome the Minister to the House. Senator John Whelan has covered much of the topic from a national perspective, but I will stick to local issues in County Roscommon, where the spend on arts, culture and heritage is €640,000 annually. Many arts festivals receive funding from Roscommon County Council, such as the Boyle Arts Festival, and festivals based on historical figures, such as the Percy French festival in Castlecoote House, the Douglas Hyde conference in Ballaghaderreen, and the Douglas Hyde interpretive centre in French Park, which is run well by Ms Deirdre O'Gara. Others are the William Wilde Festival in Castlerea and the Roscommon Drama Festival. Through the county librarian, Mr. Richie Farrell, and the heritage officer, Nollaig Feeney, Roscommon County Council creates an arts plan with the help of Mary Mullins every year. The purpose-built arts centre, which is well run by Avril Dooher, is a hive of activity. King House in Boyle sees a lot of investment from Roscommon County Council and has subsidised workspace for developing artists. We also have the world-renowned Moone Boy, Chris O'Dowd, from Boyle. The council provides bursaries to developing artists. Heritage week is a big week and involves many volunteers and local authority support. It is worth visiting the Rathcroghan Interpretive Centre in Tulsk, County Roscommon.

As Senator Whelan said, since 2008 the Heritage Council has had its funding cut by 66%. As a result, it can only deliver 33% of the projects delivered in 2008. The Heritage Council would be happy if, over six years, a programme was put in place to ensure funding was brought back to 2008 levels. There is also Clonalis House, Castlerea, which is well worth visiting. We have many historical sites and heritage sites and, to some degree, if it was not for Roscommon County Council, the county would be neglected.

A bugbear of mine from a cultural point of view is a point I raised with Senator Ó Murchú. We do not acknowledge the contribution of Irish dancers when they represent us on the world stage. There is no funding provided for them. Last month, the Irish dancing world championships were held in Montreal, but many dancing schools could not bring all their children, including some who could have qualified and possibly won a world championship. These schools are putting Ireland on the map. When the world dancing championships are in the country, it is a massive event and much money is spent. People use it as a holiday. We are developing tourism products, and more investment would contribute more. For rural counties such as Roscommon, if we do not have tourism we do not have a lot more. I compliment the staff of Roscommon County Council on what they are doing. I would like the support of the Minister for Roscommon. Much good work is being done and much of it goes unnoticed. It is all about funding.