I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Estimate, narrow thought it may be. I listened with interest to the contributions of Deputies Bruton and Quinn. In view of the restrictions those contributions were intelligent, articulate and to the point. The Minister's statement dealt largely with cultural activities in respect of Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Anything that improves such relationships is to be lauded. It is important that the different cultures on this island be moulded together in the best way possible. Far too often, we are told that one of the barriers to reunification is the fact that there are two cultures, one for the Protestant majority in the North and some in the South, and the Gaelic culture of the Catholic population, north and south. The moulding of the two cultures is a prerequisite to unity by peaceful means. In a recent debate I advocated a practical line which would go a long way towards achieving that. We can hardly expect one side to understand the other side's culture if they do not have first-hand knowledge of what the other group are doing. I put to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs that we should make an effort to ensure that everyone in the Six Counties had our television and radio services available to him. Surely they are the best methods for propagating our ideas and culture.
In this Estimate the Minister talks about spending £60,000 for cultural relationships with Britain and £290,000 for setting up festivals or exhibitions of different cultural activities such as classical, traditional and modern music, ballet and readings by Irish writers. The message could be got across more effectively and to a greater audience if the exhibitions were televised and broadcast not just to a few dozen but to hundreds of thousands of people. Deputy Bruton rightly pointed out that the unfortunate thing about such exhibitions and festivals is that they are patronised by very few people. Those involved are usually highly intelligent who already have a good standard of education. We would like if these could be made common to the masses so that not just elite groups would benefit under these schemes.
The Minister should state if he holds out any hope for reciprocal arrangements whereby broadcasts, both radio and television, are beamed from here into the North and vice versa. The northern counties can receive our programmes but the reverse is not true. The Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs gave a statistic which surprised me in relation to the number of people in the Six Counties who can receive our radio and television services. It was only 15 per cent. He should enter into negotiations with his counterpart in Britain to see if such an arrangement would be allowed. I know it has been allowed in the past with regard to sporting fixtures. The all-Ireland hurling and football finals are normally televised in Northern Ireland and on certain channels in Britain.
Much play is made of cross-Border co-operation and a figure is mentioned for it in the Estimate. I do not know how effective it is at present. We have it in certain fields such as security but not in any other fields. It may have been carried on in a certain way in other spheres prior to the present troubles but seemingly a lot of trade relationships and the energy link-up between the North and South have ceased since the troubles started.
There is an area under the heading of culture that the Minister should explore. It could be very productive. It would appeal to the masses and not just the few. It is in the field of sport. We are all very anxious to see that the country is proud of its sporting activities. I know moves have been made to set up a joint all-Ireland soccer team. This type of cultural co-operation——
