Seanad debates

Tuesday, 2 November 2021

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Niall Ó DonnghaileNiall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé píosa mall as beannachtaí breithlae a sheoladh le TG4 a bhí 25 bliain ar an saol ag an deireadh seachtaine. The leader may have seen at the weekend Oíche Shamhna marked the 25th birthday of TG4, one of our greatest cultural, entertainment and information outlets in Ireland and globally, given the new media that exists. It is available to and taken up by a global audience. TG4 reflects the best of us. It shows our rich cultural heritage and history, but also the vibrancy and dynamism of the Irish language community, especially the creative sector and the arts and music in the Irish language community, in particular. It was a timely reminder for us of just how much TG4 has made a difference to the life of the Irish language community and broader Irish life over the past 25 years and of how when we enable the Irish language sector to flourish and grow, it does so impressively. TG4 is in many ways the jewel in the crown for the Irish language community and plays such a big part in Irish life. I wish it a breithlá sona. Go maireadh siad an céad.I also wanted to take the opportunity to again call for a debate on the protocol and its roll-out. At today's Brexit committee, representatives from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, put quite impressive statistics to us, including a statistic that really resonated with me regarding a 90% increase in trade from the North into the South post-Brexit, which was enabled by the protocol. I again make the call for that debate. I also call on the Irish Government to develop a communication and marketing strategy that tells businesses, in particular, how to avail of the benefits of the protocol and that clearly and coherently outlines how it is protecting business.

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