Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, yesterday announced funding of up to €65,000 through Fáilte Ireland that will help support and develop St. Patrick’s Day events in Killarney, Cork and Limerick respectively over the next three years.
Minister Griffin made the announcement at the Kerry Tourism Summit at The Brehon Hotel in Killarney.
As the National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland has identified festivals as a key component for tourism growth. The tourism development body is aiming to grow overseas visitors coming to Ireland to attend a festival to 300,000 by 2022. This growth is expected to generate €150million in revenue. Taking place outside the traditional peak tourism season combined with the geographical spread of celebrations across Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day provides a significant opportunity to grow tourism and extend the season.
In making the announcement, Minister of State Griffin said:
“Festivals and events play an important role in delivering brilliant visitor experiences and help to spread the benefits of tourism to communities throughout Ireland. The commitment of Fáilte Ireland funding and development support for regional St Patrick’s Day celebrations is a welcome boost and a significant opportunity to attract overseas visitors outside the traditional peak tourism season.”
Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Festivals, Ciara Sugrue, added:
“We are positioning Ireland as ‘the’ place to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. A sizeable number of visitors go to Dublin every year for the St Patrick’s Festival but as part of our strategy to spread the benefits of tourism, we also want to develop St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in locations across the country.
With strong international propositions and a broad range of accommodation in each local area, the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Killarney, Cork and Limerick have the potential to motivate significant numbers of overseas visitors. We look forward to working with the organising committees over the next three years on a development plan that will see real growth.”
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