Leitrim needs to be showcased on big screen - McGloin

Cllr Enda McGloin wants Leitrim to follow in the footsteps of the Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin and take advantage of The Wild Rose County's stunning landscape through the Western Region Audiovisual Producer's Fund (WRAP fund) which was created specifically to fund productions in the audio-visual sector in the West, covering the counties of Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo.

The fund supports West of Ireland regional producers and companies as well as actively promoting the regions to incoming productions.

Speaking at the latest meeting Cllr McGloin said, "We saw what that did for the Achill area in terms of the scenery and I would argue that we have very huge assets in terms of scenery in this county and that exposure like that on a large scale would have huge benefits to the county."

He said that other films that put areas on the map include The Quiet Man and Ryan's Daughter. 

He had asked in a notice of motion that Leitrim County Council consider the potential of this county been part of the WRAP film region alongside other counties in the West and North West. 
He said that in just two years, "the Regional Fund has generated over €16.8m in expenditure, putting the West at the epicentre of production and welcoming many high profile, indigenous and international productions, so perhaps Leitrim should consider been part of the successful project."  
The report by Director of Services, Housing and Community, Corporate Services, Cultural and Emergency Services, advised Cllr McGloin that Leitrm has indeed joined the programme.  
He was told that Leitrim County Council, Roscommon County Council and Sligo County Council have worked together as a three-county region in the area of film development since 2015. In December 2020, the three counties joined the WRAP II programme, which commenced in April 2021 and will continue until April 2024.  

Cllr Felim Gurn said that a new dark comedy 'Obituary' filmed in Ballyshannon in Donegal has brought in 100 jobs and "puts Ballyshannon on the map."

He continued: "Movies were made here years ago like Jimmy's Hall and The Mapmaker. Around twenty years ago, our biggest problem was that we had no accommodation so a lot of the crew had to stay in The Slieve Russell and we still have that problem."

Cllr Gurn said that Leitrim was "missing a major opportunity because Netflix is spending around €5bn on content every year. You can see what Game of Thrones has brought to Northern Ireland and put it on the world map, and Stars Wars did for Skellig Michael."

He also noted that Barry Keoghan's film Calm With Horses was partly funded by the WRAP Fund. 

He concluded that the €20,000 it costs to become part of the fund should be taken from the county's tourism budget. 
"I don't want to hear this ends in April 2024. This has to be on a continuing basis and we can't miss out on opportunities. With the landscape we have in Leitrim and the blueways, etc, what better way could we promote the county?"

He noted that TV host Ant McPartlin discovered his Drumkeeran roots on Ant and Dec's DNA Journey and said this should have been capitilised on. 
"That was a missed opportunity because that went out to two million UK viewers."

Cllr Brendan Barry also supported the motion as did Cllr Enda Stenson and Cllr Sean McDermott. 

Cllr McGloin said: "Hopefully Leitrim can benefit from this programme."