Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome yesterday’s announcement on the shared island fund for cross-Border tourism initiatives. There are a number of initiatives. One of them is in Carlingford Lough, which is close to where I live, and there is a terrific project in Cuilcagh which goes across the mountains between Fermanagh and Cavan. That follows on from previous shared island funding allocated to the Wild Atlantic Way linking up with the Causeway Coastal Route on the north coast, right across to the beautiful island of Rathlin, in which Senator Black and I have a shared interest. That type of cross-Border initiative is very welcome. However, what is more important is the ability to bring the brands. The Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway Coastal Route project is very significant in the context of bringing the brands together on the island.

Tourism Ireland organises a wonderful marketing exercise right across the world for the island of Ireland as a consequence of the Good Friday Agreement. I had the pleasure of being with its representatives at events in New York, Chicago and Toronto last year. Tourism Ireland would have a much more cohesive marketing strategy if the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and the Hidden Heartlands brands were to be shared. A piece of work in that respect was undertaken last year by the department I represented at the time, along with that headed by the then Minister, Catherine Martin. Those brands are owned by Fáilte Ireland, rather than by Tourism Ireland, and it is responsible for their promotion. This is particularly important for the tourism industry north of the Border, which has been a huge success since the Good Friday Agreement. The pandemic actually led to a significant influx of visitors from south of the Border, many of them for the first time, all of whom were very welcome.

In light of the introduction of the electronic travel authorisation form by the British Government, very much against the wishes of people in the North and, in particular, people in the tourism industry, the amalgamation of the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East and the Hidden Heartlands brands would be a very welcome development. I ask the Leader to request that the Department and the Minister responsible would, at least, share a briefing with us on the status of that work. It was undertaken under the previous mandate. We also initiated an approach whereby both departments, North and South, and the three tourism agencies on the island were joined together in a shared piece of work. That collaboration gave rise to this discussion in respect of the brands. I very much hope we can get an update on the status of that work. As I stated, I very much welcome that intervention through the shared island fund to promote tourism across the island.