Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and wish her well in her new portfolio. These are challenging times in the area of arts and culture. I am speaking on this matter because I was chairperson in 2003 and 2004 of the board that made the bid for Cork to be the European city of culture in 2005. It is important to learn from that experience and I would urge the Minister to speak to some of the people who were involved in the Cork project. I am sure that issues arose about which, with the benefit of hindsight, a lot more could have been done. That project in 2005 received funding of €6 million but a huge amount of money also came from the private sector which helped to organise some of the events. In fact, one event which was attended by more than 10,000 people was organised by the private sector without any support from the organisers of the European city of culture and was a huge success. It is important that we learn from events in the past.

Time is on our side in terms of forward planning for this project. Galway has an advantage in that it is already regarded as a city of huge cultural influence.It is important that the team which it has developed is given the support it deserves. It appears to have done quite a bit of work in winning the competition for Galway to be the European capital of culture. It did a lot of work at the preplanning stage, but it is now important that in preparing for the year, it is given the maximum amount of support.

It is also important that the year is not exclusive to Galway city. The team seems to have incorporated that into its plan. The year is not just for Galway but also the entire region. I refer to involving others in the process. I served on the board of the Port of Cork from 1997 to 2007. During that time, we started encouraging cruise ships to come into Cobh and Cork. When I started working in the Port of Cork, ten cruise liners a year visited. In 2017, 67 cruise liners came to the port and in 2018 we are expecting 95 cruise liners. It is not just Cobh which benefits but the entire region. People can go to Killarney, Blarney and a number of other areas. More than 200,000 people will visit the region as a direct result of getting others involved in the European capital of culture, making sure that it is not confined to the people organising the event and that it encourages others to grow and promote the areas in which they work.

The Leas-Chathaoirleach will be interested to hear that in 2005, people in Kerry were disappointed that the focus on tourism would be on Cork. Killarney decided to celebrate 250 years of tourism that very year. The hope was that people would spend four or five hours in Cork and then a week in Killarney. It is not just about focusing on the European capital of culture in one place. Others will also benefit, which is an extremely important point.

It is an important venture for Galway, the region and the country. It offers a major opportunity. If we faced the same financial difficulties as we did prior to 2017, it would not be possible to give support to this project. Now it is possible because of the economic upturn. It is also about highlighting and focusing on people who have left the country, and using it as an opportunity to bring them home. That is an important point. I again thank the Minister and wish her every success in her role.