Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 January 2009
123 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the way his Department is promoting greater co-operation between the areas of arts, sport and tourism to mutually enhance future development of the areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2267/09]
Amharc ar fhreagraPursuant to its Statement of Strategy 2008-2010, one of the Department's high-level goals is to promote close co-operation between the arts/culture, sport and tourism sectors in order to enhance their shared contribution to the social and economic well being of the country. I am actively realising this goal in the following manner.
Tourism is a key driver of the Irish economy, and world cultural tourism is growing at approximately 15% per annum. Accordingly, I am taking an initiative in 2009 to develop the potential of cultural tourism, building in the first instance on co-operation and synergy between the bodies and institutions under the Department's remit. In particular, I intend to bring together the Heads of the key arts, sport and tourism sectoral development bodies and the National Cultural Institutions to draw up a Cultural Tourism Action Programme, to be initiated as soon as possible. This will strengthen the arts and culture family and assist the tourism industry to address current challenges and boost business in future years.
I have been encouraged in this step by the already successful benefits accruing from, for instance, the Arts Council's country-wide festivals support programme and its initiatives in the traditional arts sector, all of which contribute significantly to the tourism package available to visitors but which will, I hope, be harnessed to achieve improved synergies. In addition, ‘Culture Ireland' works closely with ‘Tourism Ireland' to maximise the opportunities for tourism which the international promotion of Irish culture presents. Apart from ongoing promotion of Culture Ireland-funded events through Tourism Ireland's international network of offices, recent successful joint initiatives include support for a special Irish focus at the leading literary festival in North America and a publication promoting Irish arts events in the key New York market.
Moreover, since 2006, the Department has financially supported ‘Culture Night', on which arts and cultural organisations, including the National Cultural Institutions, extend their opening hours to allow for increased access, in order to stimulate interest in the arts and cultural life of the city. Originally conducted only in Dublin, the concept was extended to Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford in 2008, and I plan to extend it further to a total of nine cities/towns outside Dublin in 2009. I have awarded a grant of €100,000 to Boston College for the period 2008-2010 to conduct a project to gather together Ireland's sporting heritage for publication on a website with links to present-day sporting organisations, publications, etc.
In the area of sport and tourism, Fáilte Ireland's International Sports Tourism Initiative (ISTI) is designed to attract major sporting events that can showcase Ireland as a major tourism destination. The events targeted have the ability to generate significant international media coverage and bring visitors and associated economic benefits to all the regions of the country. Events supported under ISTI include the World Rally Championship round in the North West; the Volvo Ocean Race, which is due in Galway in May; and the Tour of Ireland international cycle race in August. In addition, the Solheim Cup, which is a biennial transatlantic team matchplay competition considered to be the ladies golf equivalent of the Ryder Cup, is to be hosted by Ireland at Killeen Castle, Co. Meath, in 2011 while the Irish Open Golf tournament which is one of the major tournaments on the European Tour's 2009 schedule, will be staged at Co. Louth Golf Club in May '09.
