Finian McGrath
Question:146 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of cross-Border projects and events set up after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. [27898/03]
Vol. 575 No. 1
146 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of cross-Border projects and events set up after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. [27898/03]
As part of the Good Friday Agreement, tourism was designated as an area for co-operation on an all-island basis. As a direct consequence, the inaugural meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in its tourism-sector format on 27 October 2000 agreed the establishment of a new all-island tourism marketing company, Tourism Ireland Limited, TIL, that is accountable to the North-South Ministerial Council. Its operations are financed on a North-South basis and it is responsible for the international marketing of the island of Ireland as a tourist destination. The company has its headquarters in Dublin and Coleraine.
Fáilte Ireland also continues to work closely with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in the development of its marketing programmes in the product and niche area, all of which are agreed through the all-island tourism marketing partnership mechanism which comprises the two tourist boards, Tourism Ireland and the tourism industry North and South. There continues to be close co-operation between the Irish Sports Council and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland on many important sports issues and developments. An example of this co-operation is the all-Ireland sports development conference, which is taking place in Belfast today and tomorrow, 20 and 21 November 2003.
Furthermore, my Department is co-funding the translation of the Commentarius Rinuccinianus with the Arts and Humanities Board of Northern Ireland. The Commentarius Rinuccinianus provides a history of Ireland in the 1640s and is relevant to later Irish history. The project involves the translation of approximately 6,700 pages from Latin to English.