Tourism Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13
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Rose Conway-Walsh (SF), Mayo

While I am happy to finally see a regional focus on the Government's latest tourism policy document, which aims to grow sustainable tourism in historically overlooked regions, I fear that we have missed an opportunity to integrate successful tourism campaigns from both jurisdictions. Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, for example, only recently expanded to include a fraction of County Fermanagh. While I welcome that, it could be further expanded into mid-Ulster to offer visitors a unique experience across both sides of the Border and bring much-needed footfall and spending to rural towns and villages there.
Another missed opportunity was the potential to join the Wild Atlantic Way to the Causeway Coastal Route. Marketing co-operation alone is not enough. We need a Government-led vision that links infrastructure, transport, heritage and regional development to a coherent North-South tourism strategy. We want our visitors to experience the best of what the island of Ireland has to offer, all in one trip.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-13