Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2004
10 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the matters that he has pursued with his European Union counterparts during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19713/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAcross my portfolio, a wide variety of events and initiatives was organised and advanced as part of my Department's Presidency programme.
In the face of the common challenges facing the tourism sector across Europe, I requested Fáilte Ireland to organise a major international conference on tourism as the centrepiece of Ireland's tourism programme for the Presidency. The event, entitled "Charting Tourism Success", was held in Dublin Castle and was very well attended by policy makers and industry practitioners across Europe. A diverse panel of distinguished speakers provided valuable insights and set out some fresh ideas on how to meet the challenges facing the sector.
In the sports field, Ireland successfully launched the European Year of Education through Sport and has worked closely with the Commission and other member states in establishing a clearer framework for subsequent Presidencies initiating action in the sports arena.
A meeting of Troika Sports Ministers, as well as a joint meeting of Sport and Education Ministers, was held in January. Matters addressed included the need to promote the educational and social values of sport; developing a better partnership between the worlds of school and sport; sport as an instrument in improving multi-cultural dialogue and in promoting peace; and the key role of sport in the area of cardiovascular health and combating obesity, especially among children.
On the arts and culture front, three separate events were held in Ireland with the aim of enhancing European co-operation in the field of culture, particularly in the area of linguistic diversity, music and the digitisation of cultural content. The feedback from those who attended these events has been very positive and I am confident they will lead to greater mutual understanding and co-operation among the 25 member states. The digitisation conference which I opened in Dublin Castle on Tuesday was one of the final events of the Presidency.
In terms of advancing the agenda on cultural co-operation at European level, the Irish Presidency achieved progress in a number of areas, including securing consensus on a Community action programme to promote bodies active in the field of culture at European level; securing decisions on the extension of the Culture 2000 and media programmes to the end of 2006 which will allow the necessary time to debate and achieve consensus on the next generation of programmes in this field; securing political agreement to the continuation of the EU involvement with the European Audiovisual Observatory; securing political agreement on a proposal to allow new member states to participate in European Capitals of Culture programme; and securing agreement on the designation of the cities of Luxembourg and Sibiu for the European Capital of Culture event 2007 and the cities of Liverpool and Stavanger for the European Capital of Culture event 2008.
In more general terms, Ireland's Presidency of the EU has proven to be an invaluable opportunity to showcase all that is best about our country. In this regard, an extensive cultural programme was organised and supported by my Department which has encompassed a variety of cultural links, tours and exchanges between Irish artists, Irish festivals and artists from the new member states. The centrepiece of this programme was the "Day of Welcomes" on 1 May to celebrate the historic enlargement of the Union. This day long carnival involving towns and cities across Ireland proved an enormous success both locally and internationally and was an outstanding tribute to the generosity and warmth of the Irish welcome. In terms of building goodwill throughout Europe, particularly in the new member states, it was an overwhelming success.
Obviously, such positive images of Ireland and the Irish people in celebratory mood, which were broadcast throughout Europe and the world over the May weekend, provided a major boost to our image as a tourism destination. Almost 1,000 journalists, radio and TV crews from across the world were in Ireland for the weekend and television coverage of the events was beamed into more than a billion homes worldwide.
The cultural programme's tours to and from the new member states continued right until the end of the Presidency. These events have proven particularly successful in building strong ties with our new EU neighbours which will serve us very well at the enlarged negotiating table.
I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. It was like "This Is Your Life" for the past six months. Did the association between alcohol and sports sponsorship arise during any conversations? The Minister outlined the benefits of sport, one which is that it acts as a deterrent with regard to alcohol and drugs. Do our colleagues in Europe share the view that the association of sport with alcohol in advertising is a problem?
A Troika meeting was held which was extremely useful in terms of advancing the cause of sport in the European Union. The new treaty, which was successfully negotiated by the Taoiseach and his team, has provided for sport for the very first time. The question of alcohol and sport is something, which obviously needs to be addressed as does the question of alcohol and drugs. I have often said that no sport is the enemy of any other sport but sport has enough enemies, including alcohol and drugs. In that context, the European year of education through sport can be of immense importance since for the first time, meetings of sports Ministers will be on a formal basis under the new treaty. We should be in a position to advance sport and take on the enemies I have described.
We did not set out specific measures or discuss specific ways to tackle alcohol, however the underlying trend or objective is to use sport to tackle such issues.
