"It’s not worth a damn" councillor Jim Ryan questions why festivals aren't in tourism plan

A local representative voiced concern that council funding for Tipperary festivals falls far short of what is needed.

At the January meeting, Tipperary County Council members heard the latest on tourism and new efforts to draw more visitors to the county.

Tourism activator Mairead Winters and Damien Ginty, director of services for economic development, presented to the councillors.

Following the presentation, independent councillor Jim Ryan questioned why festivals were excluded from the council’s tourism strategy, noting their potential to attract both domestic and international visitors.

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"We have a huge number of fantastic festivals across Tipperary. I think festivals are a huge opportunity. I’m involved in a festival in Thurles, it’s a four-day festival, and we have 5,000 people each day,” Cllr Ryan said.

"We also have four campsites, there’s campervans coming to Thurles for those four days, all the hotels and B&Bs are booked out, and we get people from all 32 counties in Ireland, and abroad.

"We have a golden opportunity, Tipperary is ideally located for festivals, we’re centrally located, and easily accessible,” Cllr Ryan added.

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Even though festivals are very important to tourism, the independent councillor said the current council grants are insufficient and called for more funding to support them.

"Grants of €1,000, grants of €500 for festivals, and I’m not saying this because I’m ungrateful, but I’m not really happy with it,” he said.

"It’s not worth a damn to festivals, it doesn’t even cover the costs of insurance. If we’re serious about festivals in Tipperary that have a proven track record of bringing people into the districts, that are highlighting more than their towns and villages, €500 or €1,000 is useless to them; they should be giving thousands,” Cllr Ryan said.

"This would mean they can continue on, expand their festivals and bring in new events into their festival. We have a huge budget in Tipperary County Council, we have a huge marketing and tourism budget, but €500, €1,000 or €1,500 is not worth a damn to a festival,” he hit out.

In response to Cllr Ryan, Ms Winters stated that applications for the council’s festivals and events grants are now open, and additional funding options are under consideration for the year ahead with a new strategy on the way for 2026.

"There is an open call now for the festival and events grant, and people can apply for that through the arts office, but I had a consultation with Fáilte Ireland, and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands are bringing out a new festival and events strategy, what that will look like, I don’t know yet, but I did bring up the issue of funding and insurance with them,” Ms Winters said.

"Fáilte Ireland will have a festival and events strategy, a national one, and there will be funding for that to support these festivals and events, so that is something that will come down the line,” she added.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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