Hanafin raised demotion perception

Newly appointed Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin has said she told Taoiseach Brian Cowen her move from Social Welfare would be perceived as a demotion.

Ms Hanafin said she spoke with Mr Cowen yesterday morning and that he told her he wanted to put "an increased economic emphasis" on the tourism sector. "And he thought that I would be able to do that job," she said in an interview with today's edition of RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

However, the former Education Minister said she told the Taoiseach her appointment would be viewed by some as a demotion.

"I did say, that whereas I would be very happy to take the job, that it would be perceived as a demotion - because, unfortunately, media over the years has perceived arts, sports and culture to be something of less importance than some of the other departments.

"And, yet when you see the importance of it to the economy, when you see the people who came last year to Farmleigh to share their ideas on how to promote Ireland, culture and tourism was at the heart of what people were suggesting."

When asked what the Taoiseach's response was to her assertion that the move would be perceived by the media to be a demotion, she said Mr Cowen response was to say: "Not at all, it is very important". She said: "knowing it and perception are two very different things".

Citing the recent Oscar successes of the Irish animation industry, Ms Hanafin said there was a lot of work to be done in the department. "It's that link between our culture, our creativity, technology, and being able to bring that into a firm product that can help the economy."

She said she would tackle the issue of the saturation of hotel beds in Ireland and would concentrate on "good value" and "good service" and increasing visitor numbers to Ireland.

"It is worth €5 billion to the Irish economy. It is one of the few indigenous industries that we actually have. We talk a lot about the importance of agriculture to Ireland - this is the second major indigenous industry that we have and it is the one we can promote the most."