Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

I wish to express my concern about the lack of funding for festivals. Like other counties, Donegal has lost some festivals this year that are not going ahead. These include the Donegal food festival, the Sea Sessions festival in Bundoran and the Donegal town festival, to name a few. The Rory Gallagher Festival has been a part of Donegal and Ballyshannon for over two decades. The town was Rory Gallagher's birthplace. Two weeks ago the festival marked the 30th anniversary of his death. It is now existing on a knife-edge due to costs of insurance and everything going sky-high. Fáilte Ireland's research shows the festival is worth €4 million to the local economy and €5 million nationally. I would like the Minister for tourism, arts and culture to address the issue of funding for festivals. All local festivals are struggling. They are playing a vital part in rural communities and funding should be made available so our festivals can be kept going. They are an integral part of every town's yearly cycle. It is when people come home during the year. They plan around it. These festivals need to get the funding so they are secure and people can plan what is happening. We do not want to lose any more in the rural areas.