Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the role he has played in preparation for the Gathering in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41797/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Gathering is an initiative of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and it has my and my Department's full support. Indeed only yesterday, I met Jim Miley, the Project Director of The Gathering to explore ways in which we could work together on this initiative.

The National Cultural Institutions are promoting a number of initiatives specifically designed to contribute to the success of The Gathering.

- The National Museum of Ireland is promoting its four sites as places where Gathering events from small family reunions up to big marquee events can take place, with special emphasis on the Museum of Country Life from a regional perspective.

- The National Concert Hall will be presenting an extended range of concerts during the summer months, featuring the best of Irish artists across all musical genres.

- The Irish Museum of Modern Art is intensifying its efforts to attract overseas media coverage of its main exhibitions with a view to attracting more visitors to the country.

- The National Gallery has arranged a programme of special lectures highlighting Irish and international artists, together with a series of study mornings featuring Turner, the Yeats Family and Modern Irish artists.

- The Crawford Art Gallery will establish an American chapter of the Friends of the Crawford in 2013 to promote connections and visits to the Gallery. Linking with the Smithsonian Institute, the Crawford will offer an integrated package of cultural tours of Ireland, with a focus on Cork and Munster.

- The National Archives will continue to provide a high quality service to family and local history researchers which will play a key role in The Gathering.

The Arts Council will play a key role in funding and developing arts events around the country during 2013. In addition to the music, dance, theatre, visual and other arts created with support from the Arts Council in every county in the State as part of its core role in funding the arts, the Council has also allocated special funding for the touring of works in 2013. This will ensure that more people right around the country – including, I hope, many of the thousands of visitors who will visit for The Gathering – can experience excellent performances and exhibitions locally.

In addition, both the Culture Night and International Celebration of Irish Culture initiatives will also make a significant contribution towards the success of The Gathering. The Culture Night initiative has grown into a significant national cultural event, with more than 300,000 people visiting museums, galleries and other across the country in 2011. The International Celebration of Irish Culture is a new initiative based around the St Patrick’s Day festival, which was well supported this year. Plans are already in hand to develop the concept further in 2013 with a key aim of using the existing St Patrick’s Festival activity to promote Ireland and its culture, both domestically and internationally.

In the heritage area, I recently launched two new websites which aim to highlight lesser-known sites - national monuments and heritage buildings that are open to the public but which tend to be only visited by those very familiar with the particular area in which they are situated. It is hoped that the new ‘Places to See’ and ‘Monuments to Visit’ websites will assist in encouraging tourists to visit locations that might not otherwise be on their itineraries and also assist those of us welcoming relatives and friends from abroad as part of The Gathering next year to be able to identify locations close by that will interest visitors. Both websites feature easy-to-use digital maps that provide directions to the sites and details of what the visitor can expect to find on arrival.

Finally, I am conscious that genealogy will be of particular interest in the context of The Gathering. There is a wide range of genealogical material available in the country. In relation to my Department and the agencies under my auspices, genealogical services are provided by the National Library of Ireland, the National Archives and through the website operated by my Department. My Department and the institutions are currently exploring what improvements could be made to our genealogical offering against the backdrop of The Gathering. That work is ongoing.