Tourism projects get €6m funding

Four tourism projects across the State are to receive almost €6 million in funding announced today by Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar and Minister of State Michael Ring.

The Book of Kells at Trinity College where the announcement was made, is to receive the largest single amount - €2.7 million - "to develop the Book of Kells experience", said Mr Varadkar.

Garnish island in Cork will benefit to the tune of €2.4 million, while a mountain bike trail in Killarney will receive funding of €430,353 with €212,250 for Lough Rynn in Co Leitrim.

Some 180,000 jobs in the Republic are in the tourism sector, and Mr Varadkar said the industry was starting to recover with tourism numbers up almost 10 per cent this year.

The Book of Kells, with 500,000 visitors a year, is "one of the top five visitor attractions in the State where people actually pay to come into it". It made "sense that the attraction is updated and the visitor experience is improved so that people will continue to visit".

The funding, over a number of years, will include a new setting for the Book of Kells, an international standard mountain bike trail in Killarney, an interpretative centre for the gardens at Garnish island and enhanced camping and activity facilities at Lough Rynn in Co Leitrim.

Mr Varadkar said applications were made to Fáilte Ireland and assessed on their merits and as to their potential for tourism and employment. In the past two years Fáilte Ireland has invested €60 million in 39 projects.

Mr Ring said tourists had a huge choice of international destinations. "We must do all we can to ensure that Ireland is firmly on the international tourism map and a very desirable location to visit." He added that investing in "high-quality projects like these is part of that effort".

Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said the organisation was ensuring that the investment "is in projects and areas that will bring the best results in terms of visitor interest and those that make the most economic sense".

Welcoming the funding, Trinity College librarian Robin Adams said the grant would enable the college to provide "greatly enhanced access and understanding" for visitors to the Book of Kells and the library's "other great treasures and to ensure that the iconic old library can be shared with the public as well as functioning as one of the world's great research libraries".