Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2023
65. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the plans she has to develop the tourism product and experience throughout the Lough Derg areas of counties Tipperary, Clare and Galway, particularly given the huge improvement in access to the area that is being provided through the construction of the Shannon Crossing between Ballina and Killaloe. [8627/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraSomething I am very passionate about is tourism. I used to work in Bord Fáilte, which is now Fáilte Ireland. I refer to the whole visitor experience and promotion of the area around Lough Derg, namely, north Tipperary, east Clare and south Galway. During Covid, the real issue for me was that people's experience and what they saw of the area was significant. It is a hidden secret. It is a place many people are not aware of. It is central to Ireland. I refer to the old adage of the "hole in the doughnut syndrome" in Irish tourism, where people come and visit, travel all around Ireland but do not go into the middle. There is great value and experience in these great products in the Lough Derg area. What will be done to promote the area? There have been four plans involving it since 2014. What will be executed in the next couple of years?
The Lough Derg: Visitor Experience Development Plan 2020-2024 and action plan outlines the strategic direction that Fáilte Ireland and various agencies, including three local authorities, are working towards in the development of Lough Derg and its environs as a tourist destination. Tipperary County Council is also focusing its work on Lough Derg through its Tipperary Transforming: Tourism Product Development Plan 2020-2030. A tourism master plan for the Shannon was commissioned by Waterways Ireland in strategic partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the local authorities within the Shannon region. The objectives of the master plan are to reposition the combined Shannon navigation and Shannon-Erne waterway as a key tourism destination within Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, setting out a bold and integrated framework for sustainable tourism development along the Shannon.
During the most recent tourism season, Fáilte Ireland's national Discover Ireland advertising campaign included Lough Derg in the Ireland's Hidden Heartlands programme brand on TV and radio. On an ongoing basis, Fáilte Ireland is supporting Destination Lough Derg under the auspices of the Lough Derg Marketing Group, with support provided to discoverloughderg.ie and familiarisation visits by media and tour operators. Fáilte Ireland supports the Adventure Lough Derg initiative, which covers three counties. Fáilte Ireland also supported Quest Lough Derg in September as part of the Quest Adventure Series. The event was very well supported and it is planned to have the event back on Lough Derg in September 2023. Fáilte Ireland supported the Field Exchange event at Brookfield Farm at Coolbawn, County Tipperary, which took place throughout the summer. Fáilte Ireland also supported the World Fireball Championships at the Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer in August and is currently in discussions regarding an additional swimming challenge event on Lough Derg in 2023.
The Lough Derg greenway, a proposed 24-km long walking and cycling path connecting Ballina and Dromineer in County Tipperary is at phase 1, concept and feasibility. Public consultation was conducted in September 2022 and the response was very positive. The second platform of Fáilte Ireland's platforms for growth capital investment programme is focused on developing water sports activity facilities across the country. Centres in Dromineer and Ballycuggeran have been allocated funding by Fáilte Ireland. Tipperary County Council has recently received planning permission from An Bord Pleanála and Clare County Council is awaiting the outcome of its planning application.
I am well aware of that work, some of which I am involved in. There have been four plans since 2014. The first one was the new marketing plan, Discover Lough Derg: life by the lake. There was a €10 million proposal for this, which was not spent in its entirety. We had the Hidden Heartlands plan that my former colleagues developed, which came a couple of years later and fit into that. There was the Lough Derg visitor experience plan, to which the Minister referred. We also had the plan for the Shannon with Waterways Ireland. I support all these plans and the fantastic work that has been done. The issue, however, when it comes to tourism, is that 4% of tourists come to that area and avail of what it offers.
The real issue is stickiness, as it is called. In tourism, there are three "As" - accommodation, attractions and activities - and one "E" - events. We have the attractions, the activities and the events. We have only two hotels. The Minister can come to Nenagh and Ballina-Killaloe - I live between these two areas. She can come to Portumna. There is very little accommodation here. We need a situation that will allow more accommodation to be built. We need more glamping and facilities. I have seen the marketing that is going on. My former colleagues are fantastic at it. From a planning and product development perspective, we need to facilitate the provision of more accommodation to create stickiness so that people can stay in this fantastic area at the centre of Ireland.
We will take the Deputy’s ideas on board, including alternatives, such as glamping, as well as the greenway experience of Lough Derg, and I will link in with Fáilte Ireland in that regard. Publicity is taking place. Tourism Ireland, in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland, has invited a crew from NBC to film for the "Today" show and "Open House", a real estate show that reaches over 1.5 million viewers. The crew captured footage in west Clare and at the lakeside in Ballina, County Tipperary. Publicity is happening. I take on board what the Deputy is saying that there is a real issue with accommodation. We attract people. Attractions are there, but there is an issue with accommodation, which is something we will have to look at.
I say this in all sincerity because it is a matter about which I am very passionate. The number of people who saw the area around Lough Derg during Covid was fantastic. The hotel in Athenry burned down. We have one hotel in Nenagh and one in Ballina. As for trying to provide accommodation, it is virtually impossible because no one can get planning. We have fantastic natural attractions. We have fantastic activities involving the lake, walking, cycling and adventure sports and everything else. We have brilliant events but, unfortunately, there is nowhere to stay.
I come from Portroe. Garrykennedy is fantastic. It was voted one of the top ten most charming villages in Ireland according to The Nenagh Guardian. I was there at the weekend. People come all year round and stay in camper vans as there is little, if any, accommodation. There are a couple of Airbnbs. We must have a process for tourism areas, particularly dealing with the hole in the doughnut syndrome of middle Ireland where there is good value and where there are great activities, attractions and events to which people can get to quickly thanks to the motorways, but where there is not enough accommodation, unfortunately. Across government, working with the Department with responsibility for planning and local government, we need to find a way to develop more accommodation quickly.
What the Deputy is saying will fit very well with what we are doing. We are developing a national, sustainable tourism policy. It is about getting into the regions and promoting sustainable types of tourism, including the accommodation the Deputy mentioned, as well as for longer stays in the regions. Fáilte Ireland has a lot of business supports that it provides to the region's tourism industry. Its roadmap is about setting out the steps a business can take on its carbon reduction journey. We should be looking at supports in connection with the new sustainable tourism policy for the type of accommodation to which the Deputy referred. I take on board what he is saying in regard to a whole-of-government approach. Although accommodation is key, tourism is out of my remit in relation to building-----
I want the Minister to push for it.
-----but I can talk to the Minister about that.
