The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Seamus Brennan has today launched details of a new €100 million investment in the upgrading and enhancing of existing tourist attractions and the funding of new initiatives that will be designed to entice more visitors to Ireland.

Minister Brennan said that in the intensely competitive global tourism industry it is vital that Ireland constantly refreshes and improves its visitor facilities while at the same time developing new and innovative attractions.

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Minister Brennan was speaking in Dublin when launching the new Failte Ireland Tourism Capital Investment Programme, €70 million will be invested in upgrading many of the leading tourist attractions in the country as well as investing in new imaginative projects and a further €30 million will be targeted at enhancing leisure and activity facilities.

Last year saw solid growth in tourism with the number of overseas visitors passing the 8 million mark for the first time. Mr Brennan said that now that we have the signs of a slowdown in some parts of the economy, such as construction, tourism has the potential to again come to the fore as a consistent and solid contributor to the economic well being of this country.

(VB/JM)