Minister of State to assess tourism opportunities in Donegal

The Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development will visit Donegal next year to assess potential tourism opportunities.

TD Charles Ward invited Jerry Buttimer to visit the county next year, hoping that Malin Head’s tourism in particular will benefit from the visit.

The Donegal Deputy was speaking on the government’s recently published ‘Our Rural Future’ policy and said: “Rural Ireland holds so much potential and yet is extremely underdeveloped in areas. We need our rural towns and communities to be places of opportunity for people, places they can live and work and thrive, where they can reach their full potential and grow socially, mentally, physically and personally, and build fulfilling lives.

“Too often young people in rural Ireland don’t see their hometowns as places of opportunity, but rather as places that limit them, that hold them back, and that attitude needs to change. The lack of sufficient investment is reflected in many aspects of daily life in Donegal, from limited public transport to poor broadband connectivity to poor road infrastructure.”

Deputy Ward said that the North West is years behind the rest of the country and also lags behind when it comes to tourism, claiming that tourism investment continues to be heavily concentrated in the South of the country, despite the enormous untapped potential that exists in the North West.

“While destinations such as Killarney have become established tourism hotspots, they are increasingly experiencing capacity pressures; this highlights the importance of developing alternative destinations and spreading the benefits of tourism more evenly throughout the country,” he said.

The 100% Redress Party leader said that the Malin Head Visitors Management Plan is a particularly important opportunity, but that for projects of this scale and ambition to become a reality, adequate funding and financial support must be made available to Donegal County Council.

Deputy Ward urged the Minister to make funding available for this project and urged him to visit the area, as well as the Finn Valley and the islands, to see the tourism potential in Donegal, stating: “Donegal can thrive just like Kerry, but we need investment.”

In response, Minister Buttimer said: “I certainly will take up the invitation from Deputy Ward to go to Donegal.”