:00:00. > :00:00.He launched what he called the biggest shake-up in rates
:00:00. > :00:00.for a generation, and now has a ?277 million bonus
:00:07. > :00:10.from the Chancellor to spend on infrastructure.
:00:11. > :00:12.Tonight on The View, I'll be asking the Finance Minister
:00:13. > :00:15.how he's going to spend the cash, and if his DUP colleagues are
:00:16. > :00:42.His plans to lift the rates cap for the most valuable homes
:00:43. > :00:45.here could put him on a collision course with his DUP Executive
:00:46. > :00:49.colleagues, so how does Mairtin O'Muilleoir plan
:00:50. > :00:53.And is this just the first step on the road to Stormont raising
:00:54. > :00:56.more of its own revenue in the years ahead?
:00:57. > :01:00.Is it time for Tourism Ireland to level the playing field
:01:01. > :01:02.with Dublin, and promote the International Airport
:01:03. > :01:11.here as the world's gateway to the island?
:01:12. > :01:19.There's no real comparison between Belfast Airport and Dublin airport
:01:20. > :01:23.in terms of capacity or skill. I think it is clear that the agenda of
:01:24. > :01:25.tourism Ireland has been very much focused on Dublin.
:01:26. > :01:28.And MLAs are always watching their language at Stormont,
:01:29. > :01:30.but what's been causing a stink in the Canadian parliament?
:01:31. > :01:36.And, as fragrant and fresh as ever, our commentators
:01:37. > :01:44.It's been a big week for the Minister charged
:01:45. > :01:48.Mairtin O Mulleoir announced his plans to change the rating system
:01:49. > :01:51.to raise more revenue - and he got the guts of an extra
:01:52. > :01:53.300 million from the Treasury to spend on infrastructure.
:01:54. > :01:56.But will it be enough to provide the strong capital stimulus
:01:57. > :02:13.Indeed evening. The Chancellor allocated UN extra ?277 million
:02:14. > :02:18.yesterday. That is all most ?70 million for four years. How are you
:02:19. > :02:25.going to spend its? We put the Chancellor under pressure, myself,
:02:26. > :02:30.the Chancellor dot-mac Finance ministers for Wales and Scotland as
:02:31. > :02:34.well. When you speak for a 10 million people, it has an effect on
:02:35. > :02:39.Westminster. We got part of the result we wanted. I was hoping to a
:02:40. > :02:43.figure closer to 500 million. That is a boost and it will help others
:02:44. > :02:50.as we approach this capital budget for four years. Around 5 billion
:02:51. > :02:54.will have an economic stimulus. It is very important. Posterity is not
:02:55. > :03:00.finished. The other requesters we made of the Chancellor is to bend
:03:01. > :03:05.the sturdy agenda. Do not cut budgets. I am not surprise you want
:03:06. > :03:12.to make that point. You have this cash windfall for want of a better
:03:13. > :03:16.description. Will it go on existing priorities, the regional sports
:03:17. > :03:21.stadium, the Belfast hub? Executive ministers will have to meet and
:03:22. > :03:26.consider the entire budget. I been working very hard with the ministers
:03:27. > :03:31.this week. We had clarity this week and we know at the Chancellor wants
:03:32. > :03:34.to do. It will take the few weeks to come to some conclusions with our
:03:35. > :03:43.figures. As they travel across the Jewish diction bat jurisdiction,
:03:44. > :03:48.have had the pleasure of meeting many people. Everybody has a great
:03:49. > :04:03.plan. We need to match that ambition. I've been in many areas
:04:04. > :04:10.with great plans. Deri wants to create a new space. Look like you
:04:11. > :04:16.are at a decline of Belfast of course. With the city of Belfast
:04:17. > :04:22.benefit from that kind of spending? You could pay for that and still
:04:23. > :04:26.have money left over. I do not use the term flying the flag any more,
:04:27. > :04:30.that got me into trouble some time ago. I brought the 11 councils
:04:31. > :04:35.together in the first finance minister did that. I said I wanted
:04:36. > :04:39.to partner the dynamic councils if the all step up. That has been
:04:40. > :04:44.transferred by most of the councils and for the first time ever, Liz
:04:45. > :04:47.Burn Council has approached me and said they want to spend money on
:04:48. > :04:56.infrastructure. The Azmi to match that. Will you? I had an interesting
:04:57. > :05:02.conversation. We talked about it today. The First Minister is
:05:03. > :05:08.thinking the same. There might be a lot of little projects that you are
:05:09. > :05:14.spending the money on? I am also a great believer in the guy who
:05:15. > :05:19.created central part in New York who said make no little plans. We do the
:05:20. > :05:23.flagship projects, we have to deliver those. The mother and
:05:24. > :05:30.Children's Hospital in Belfast, the roads, we will deliver those. We
:05:31. > :05:34.need to make a big impact. I talked about the thunderclap of the
:05:35. > :05:37.economy. We need to the cranes above the cities and above the villages
:05:38. > :05:47.and towns right across the jurisdiction. Small is beautiful,
:05:48. > :05:51.too. When I go into small places. We need a new fire station in one area.
:05:52. > :05:56.Do I have the money at this stage? I do not know. I want to get positive,
:05:57. > :06:05.transformative plans. I want people to see evidence of the peace
:06:06. > :06:09.protest. -- process. I met some of you talking about pivotal Irish
:06:10. > :06:15.language projects. Elek people to see evidence of these processes in
:06:16. > :06:20.terms of new buildings in use. You're open to suggestions, you have
:06:21. > :06:24.no fixed idea at the moment? I have a lot of ideas. You don't have a
:06:25. > :06:28.fixed idea of how you're going to spend that money? Have some projects
:06:29. > :06:34.that I will champion. The Government works according to criteria and
:06:35. > :06:38.Harry Lester projects that are inescapable. They had to be business
:06:39. > :06:45.plan approved. We are not just going to pick projects out of a hat. The
:06:46. > :06:51.minister wants to spend ?80 million on the progress it you has
:06:52. > :06:58.championed. We will need to sit down. The demands are infinite in
:06:59. > :07:01.the resources are finite. You want to remove the cap on domestic rates
:07:02. > :07:05.to raise about four and have million pounds for your department. This is
:07:06. > :07:13.a start of a public conversation about revenue? Is the principal in
:07:14. > :07:18.terms of property tax, if you can pay, you should pay. Let's have a
:07:19. > :07:23.broader shouldering of the burden. It shouldn't just be those who are
:07:24. > :07:27.in a middle class, the hard-working middle-class who don't get any help
:07:28. > :07:33.with their rates, because they are not entitled to housing benefit. If
:07:34. > :07:37.you live in a house valued over ?4000, filming is unreasonable to
:07:38. > :07:44.say you should pay more according to the value of the home. -- ?400,000.
:07:45. > :07:48.If it was ?1 million, we are not ask you to pay the full distance, it has
:07:49. > :07:55.been eight or nine years that those larger houses have benefited from
:07:56. > :07:59.the rate cap. I think in terms of citizenship people should pay more
:08:00. > :08:08.if they can. Those who live in bigger houses can hopefully support
:08:09. > :08:13.this. Is the DUP going to support it? Have you greeted with those
:08:14. > :08:18.colleagues already? No. I have not agreed it with any of the Assembly
:08:19. > :08:24.members, I said it to the Assembly members on Tuesday. These are my
:08:25. > :08:34.thoughts. The DUP know what they are and it is a package. I think it will
:08:35. > :08:37.transform our local economy. We have never partnered hospitality and
:08:38. > :08:44.industrialism together. We have talked about it a lot. This is our
:08:45. > :08:49.attempt to do that. I just want to be absolutely clear that you did not
:08:50. > :08:57.agree in advance of your public announcement your views with the
:08:58. > :09:02.DUP? No. The DUP is opposed to it, has not agreed to it and will
:09:03. > :09:09.contest it. Is that your understanding? The DUP have to speak
:09:10. > :09:13.for themselves. She has. I am confident that the proposals stand
:09:14. > :09:18.up for supper daisy shake-up for the first time ever or, it has not
:09:19. > :09:24.happened before. There was a red line in the DUP in St Andrews in
:09:25. > :09:27.2006. We will come back to that. We have never tried in society to do
:09:28. > :09:34.this, it is common in other countries. The University of Ulster
:09:35. > :09:37.which reviewed our existing reach release schemes that they don't
:09:38. > :09:43.work, they have no economic impact and we should try new things. What
:09:44. > :09:49.I'm saying is I have unveiled a suite of measures, the DUP will
:09:50. > :09:54.study them and hook onto a decision. Want to come onto those issues in a
:09:55. > :10:00.moment. I have not finished with the rate cap, you don't mind. You'll
:10:01. > :10:04.talked about those middle-class working class who will tap to pay
:10:05. > :10:08.extra. If you look at previous pronouncements from the DUP in a
:10:09. > :10:12.parody on retaining the cap is that has values are not necessarily a
:10:13. > :10:18.reliable indicator of ability to pay. Do you accept that? The DUP
:10:19. > :10:26.would have to speak to throw themselves about that policy. I'm
:10:27. > :10:31.asking for your opinion. It is my considered view on the rates we ask
:10:32. > :10:33.for from people. It is also the view of people who have studied this on
:10:34. > :10:39.our behalf over the years who have said we need to raise more revenue.
:10:40. > :10:44.If you live in a hazard is valued at ?1.2 million you should pay more.
:10:45. > :10:54.Bill Gates in Washington owns a property that... Is not relevant.
:10:55. > :10:57.Hammond houses worth ?1 million are the? If you let me tell the anecdote
:10:58. > :11:05.than you can decide that is relevant or not. He pays property taxes of $1
:11:06. > :11:10.million. If you lived in Belfast, those rates would be $5,000. If you
:11:11. > :11:14.live in a greater value house what we're asking you is to make a
:11:15. > :11:17.greater contribution, but we are going to new on the introduction of
:11:18. > :11:20.that, not ask you to pay the full amount. I have to say of course that
:11:21. > :11:27.my e-mail inbox has been buzzing with this. Generally I find that the
:11:28. > :11:31.two constituencies affected and the people in that bracket are generally
:11:32. > :11:39.willing to say they can contribute more and will do so. And MSP in your
:11:40. > :11:43.constituency made the point in the house on Tuesday that a lot of
:11:44. > :11:48.households affected by this removal of the cap will be families whose
:11:49. > :11:51.budgets are already stretched and to pay for everything. The introduction
:11:52. > :11:58.of an additional charge an annual budget would be very difficult.
:11:59. > :12:04.These are tough times. Why make them tougher? I need these families and I
:12:05. > :12:11.am aware of hard-working people and how tough things are. What we need
:12:12. > :12:14.to do is raise more money to pay for services people are asking for.
:12:15. > :12:19.Every time I listen to the radio people say I need to do more to help
:12:20. > :12:23.services in health and if we don't raise more money as a society then
:12:24. > :12:31.we cannot do that. That is interesting. Let me finish if I may.
:12:32. > :12:35.When this process is finished, and I believe I will get the support of
:12:36. > :12:39.the Assembly and of all parties, when that is finished, we will still
:12:40. > :12:45.have lower rates than the hard in Scotland and Wales. Very quickly,
:12:46. > :12:52.charity shops have to start paying their way. You wanted introduced
:12:53. > :12:57.rates of 10%. Why is not been any conversation about farmers paying
:12:58. > :13:01.rates? If it is OK for charities, why not charities? One at the time.
:13:02. > :13:08.I had a big meeting this morning in north Belfast with representatives
:13:09. > :13:12.of the charity sector. They accept reluctantly that if you have a place
:13:13. > :13:18.on the high street as we would see, you need to make a small
:13:19. > :13:23.contribution. I'm suggesting and I will be open to be led by the
:13:24. > :13:28.consultation, that we give them 90% relief with a contribution. I
:13:29. > :13:33.understand that, but why are former is still paying nothing? That is a
:13:34. > :13:40.different situation. People want to bring that up, they can. You have
:13:41. > :13:43.not introduced it. The proposition was about properties on the high
:13:44. > :13:47.streets. That is a different conversation that no doubt will
:13:48. > :13:52.happen but the agricultural industry. Our conversation for now
:13:53. > :13:57.is to keep the relief in place and we should not have rates on forming
:13:58. > :14:03.properties. Up cause there are reformers who live in homes that pay
:14:04. > :14:08.rates. But they don't know it agricultural buildings. How
:14:09. > :14:11.disappointed are you for it wanting to hold onto the generational rates.
:14:12. > :14:17.If you were there you would be hopping mad. We are getting into
:14:18. > :14:23.political football here which I am going to avoid. I certainly am. He
:14:24. > :14:29.was at his local club earlier tonight. Do you welcome what he did
:14:30. > :14:37.with regeneration? I will get to that. I want to pay credit to Paul
:14:38. > :14:42.and he said he was travelling and I welcome that. He has an open invite
:14:43. > :14:46.from me to visit and Irish language project. We have discussed this many
:14:47. > :14:51.times. He knows my view on the regeneration of local councils and
:14:52. > :14:54.he knows I am disappointed, but it is my belief that we would be
:14:55. > :14:59.stronger partners. Part isn't convinced of that at the moment. I
:15:00. > :15:04.work with cancelled everyday. I am continuing to work with them. Even
:15:05. > :15:11.this morning we have 200 million pounds being spent on new offices in
:15:12. > :15:17.Belfast. Canny patient changes mind? Are you going to continue that
:15:18. > :15:22.conversation and persuade him he is wrong? I am going to tell the City
:15:23. > :15:27.Council not to give up. I think the leadership of the City Council,
:15:28. > :15:31.especially Belfast, is exemplary. They need to keep arguing for it.
:15:32. > :15:33.They are not content to sit on their hands are neither am I.
:15:34. > :15:39.Let's hear what our commentators Fionnuala O'Connor and
:15:40. > :15:44.Do you get a sense that Sinn Fein and the DUP have discussed
:15:45. > :15:50.this rates review behind closed doors?
:15:51. > :15:58.Indeed. I don't know that the result would be any different from what we
:15:59. > :16:03.have just hard. I always appreciate how fast he talks. I notice the only
:16:04. > :16:09.time Winnie Pace fastened was when asked about farmers and he said
:16:10. > :16:13.well, well, well. I think that Israeli telling. I think the
:16:14. > :16:19.question about rates for farmers is the touchy question, as much for
:16:20. > :16:25.Sinn Fein as it would be for a DUP minister. If you're serious about
:16:26. > :16:31.raising more revenue and you decide you want to remove the cap on
:16:32. > :16:36.?400,000 houses so people do the bit for the economy. Some people will
:16:37. > :16:45.say, the same argument applies for farmers. It should. And for water as
:16:46. > :16:50.well. It is not a lot in the grand scheme of things looking at the
:16:51. > :16:54.demands made of him as a finance minister and the Executive. I would
:16:55. > :17:00.be astonished if the DUP bought into this. I'm not saying they haven't
:17:01. > :17:06.had the conversation, but I would be surprised if they have had it. What
:17:07. > :17:10.worries me is the fact that all the way through that interview, he kept
:17:11. > :17:14.saying that he had not really discussed it and we were still
:17:15. > :17:17.talking about it. I would have thought the Executive should have
:17:18. > :17:21.done. They knew something was coming and should have done forward
:17:22. > :17:25.thinking. We have another incident where people don't know what to do
:17:26. > :17:30.now. Four years down and now we will be asking for more money.
:17:31. > :17:39.Interesting that there is clear water between Paul Givan and Mairtin
:17:40. > :17:42.O Muilleoir here, is not happy with what Paul Givan has done. There is
:17:43. > :17:51.bound to be gaps between them on lots of things. On south Belfast and
:17:52. > :17:55.North Down, and would like to make a declaration of interest, I suspect
:17:56. > :18:00.my house would be in this back -- bracket, and I would be more than
:18:01. > :18:04.happy to pay and I think this is the sort of PR that Sinn Fein into
:18:05. > :18:08.project. It is a big part of what is happening at the moment. It goes
:18:09. > :18:09.down well with people and if the DUP block it that is exactly what you
:18:10. > :18:11.want, in a sense. Thank you both, and we'll
:18:12. > :18:14.hear more from you later The head of Belfast International
:18:15. > :18:17.Airport has criticised Tourism Ireland and told
:18:18. > :18:19.the Taoiseach that the all-island body needs to refocus its work north
:18:20. > :18:22.of the border after the UK's The comments by Graham Keddie,
:18:23. > :18:29.the airport's managing director, are contained in a strongly worded
:18:30. > :18:32.letter to Enda Kenny which has been Here's our political
:18:33. > :18:49.correspondent, Stephen Walker. The battle for tourists has always
:18:50. > :18:53.been competitive. After all, it's a multi-million pound business that
:18:54. > :18:57.generates tens of thousands of jobs. Brexit has taken that fight for
:18:58. > :19:02.visitors into a new dimension. But what does all this mean for tourism
:19:03. > :19:08.on the island of Ireland customer does this new economic and political
:19:09. > :19:15.order mean it's time for change? Welcome to Ryanair, it's great to
:19:16. > :19:19.have you back. Thank you. Graham Keddie is the managing director of
:19:20. > :19:24.Belfast International Airport and was invited by end Kenny to the all
:19:25. > :19:30.Ireland civic dialogue on Brexit but was unable to attend. In a letter
:19:31. > :19:34.obtained by The View, he wrote to the leadership. He said a weaker
:19:35. > :19:38.pound makes Northern Ireland a much more proposition for tourists from
:19:39. > :19:42.Great Britain. The flip side is that a stronger euro makes the Republic
:19:43. > :19:48.of Ireland much more expensive, and therefore much mirth -- less
:19:49. > :19:54.attractive. The body responsible for promoting the island of Ireland
:19:55. > :19:58.overseas is Tourism Ireland. Graham Keddie says changed economic times
:19:59. > :20:01.means there needs to be a shift in emphasis. He wrote to the Taoiseach:
:20:02. > :20:20.Mr Keddie claims Belfast is ideally placed to benefit. He added:
:20:21. > :20:39.so, is Graham Keddie right? I think it's very clear that the agenda of
:20:40. > :20:42.Tourism Ireland has very much been Dublin focused and here we have an
:20:43. > :20:45.International Airport operating in Northern Ireland and its CEO
:20:46. > :20:49.spinning out loud and clear that it wants a fair crack of the whip, and
:20:50. > :20:53.once Tourism Ireland to do his job and do see Northern Ireland to the
:20:54. > :20:58.Gateway into the island of Ireland not be Dublin airport. So the
:20:59. > :21:02.criticisms Tourism Ireland fair? Should the body plays a greater
:21:03. > :21:06.emphasis into matters north of the border? And does it make economic or
:21:07. > :21:13.indeed practical sense for Belfast to be the Gateway into Ireland?
:21:14. > :21:17.Earlier this month, US airline United announced it was to stop
:21:18. > :21:22.flying between Belfast and New York. The only direct air link between
:21:23. > :21:27.Northern Ireland and the United States. It came after a rescue deal
:21:28. > :21:29.was backed by the Northern Ireland executive but Belfast International
:21:30. > :21:34.Airport said the European Commission blocked the funding on the grounds
:21:35. > :21:39.it was state aid. This we can only judge people on their past record
:21:40. > :21:44.and we don't look have far back, to see that United air lines being our
:21:45. > :21:48.only to Atlantic flight being lost, and then to make bold statements
:21:49. > :21:52.such as that, in the heat of that, doesn't really have much
:21:53. > :21:58.credibility, to be fair, and that's unfortunate. I would love to say
:21:59. > :22:00.that that would be the day, but we do have, thankfully, Dublin
:22:01. > :22:07.International Airport, and many of us have had to turn to Dublin as the
:22:08. > :22:13.only route to such places as America. So how will Graham Keddie's
:22:14. > :22:18.criticism be viewed in Dublin? Down south as it were, I think people
:22:19. > :22:22.will be shocked at just how explosive the letter is because it
:22:23. > :22:30.really lays down the gauntlet is not just at the tourism level but also
:22:31. > :22:33.at a political level but it's quite partisan in the sense that it
:22:34. > :22:35.appears to accuse Tourism Ireland of itself being partisan, that it
:22:36. > :22:38.doesn't seem to promote Northern Ireland in the same way as the
:22:39. > :22:42.Republic. When contacted by The View, a spokesman for the airport
:22:43. > :22:44.said they had no wish to add anything to Mr Keddie's letter which
:22:45. > :22:50.they described as constructive and helpful. In response, Tourism
:22:51. > :22:55.Ireland said they will launch their plans to promote Northern Ireland in
:22:56. > :23:02.2017, in Belfast next week. Building on the record growth they have seen
:23:03. > :23:07.in 2016. Whilst there may be a difference of opinion over how
:23:08. > :23:11.Ireland should be marketed abroad, politicians north and south are at
:23:12. > :23:15.least agreed that Brexit has the potential to change the political
:23:16. > :23:20.and economic climate on the island. The Republic is going to be severely
:23:21. > :23:24.hit by Brexit, and it doesn't benefit us in Northern Ireland to
:23:25. > :23:28.have a south of Ireland which is in economic decline, both of us have to
:23:29. > :23:31.do well. We exported to the Republic and we want to see their economy do
:23:32. > :23:36.well so that it is important that they do have success, and I think
:23:37. > :23:40.that in the Republic of the media and the government are hiding the
:23:41. > :23:45.fact from the people that in fact they are going to be severely hit
:23:46. > :23:51.unless something is done quickly. Bringing more visitors here remains
:23:52. > :23:55.an island-wide objective. This intervention by Graham Keddie may
:23:56. > :24:00.not be universally supported, but it illustrates the tensions that exist
:24:01. > :24:02.in the crucial all Ireland industry, a business that is looking for
:24:03. > :24:05.certainty in the post-Brexit world. Joining me now is the Ulster
:24:06. > :24:07.Unionist MLA Steve Aiken and in our Dublin studio,
:24:08. > :24:09.the Director General of the British/Irish Chamber
:24:10. > :24:19.of Commerce, John McGrane. Steve Aitken though I can you see
:24:20. > :24:23.where Graham Keddie's coming from? Yes, I can, and I think it was
:24:24. > :24:27.actually a very well-balanced letter that Graham wrote because one of the
:24:28. > :24:31.key things we have seen out in particularly with the falling
:24:32. > :24:34.sterling, with many routes coming into Belfast International and the
:24:35. > :24:38.City Airport it is a great opportunity and we should help to
:24:39. > :24:41.promote Belfast International Airport, Belfast City Airport and
:24:42. > :24:45.above all Northern Ireland as the gateway to the island of Ireland,
:24:46. > :24:49.and bearing in mind because you know, we give about the third of the
:24:50. > :24:53.budget for Tourism Ireland, a third of their money should be spent in
:24:54. > :24:57.Northern and is spent promoting Northern Ireland, but not just for
:24:58. > :25:03.Northern Ireland but making it more of a Gateway, using the great value
:25:04. > :25:06.for people, with hotel accommodation, great food, great
:25:07. > :25:12.tourism destination, and then going across the whole island of Ireland.
:25:13. > :25:16.When John and I worked together in the British Irish Chamber of
:25:17. > :25:20.Commerce, I was pushing this idea of a gateway opportunity. Dublin is a
:25:21. > :25:24.great gateway but so is Belfast International Airport. I think
:25:25. > :25:29.Graham's letter was born that you are spot on. What did you make of
:25:30. > :25:35.this proposition for the Gateway crawled the Ireland which has a big
:25:36. > :25:38.thumbs up from Stephen here? Graham's letter is utterly sensible
:25:39. > :25:40.from his point of view, and tourism in Northern Ireland is at record
:25:41. > :25:47.levels and indeed Belfast International Airport and Graham
:25:48. > :25:53.leadership is at record levels. 5 million passengers this year. That
:25:54. > :26:01.doesn't make it the natural choice for the world's customers. Why not?
:26:02. > :26:06.Here is the thing, we have 70 international routes, most of those
:26:07. > :26:12.are two GB, and some international destinations, whilst Dublin brings a
:26:13. > :26:17.million visitors to the island each year, with fantastic choice to
:26:18. > :26:22.Northern Ireland is who can use either airport and Tourism Ireland
:26:23. > :26:26.does a fantastic job to help get behind tourism north and south, so
:26:27. > :26:31.if anyone wants the north to do better, including in the south, the
:26:32. > :26:34.idea that that reaches into the view of Northern Ireland becoming the
:26:35. > :26:38.gateway to everyone else, with a very much smaller base, is probably
:26:39. > :26:43.pretty fanciful. I wish him well with the idea but it will not
:26:44. > :26:46.happen. That's an interesting point but I think one thing we should be
:26:47. > :26:50.looking at, particularly with Belfast International Airport and if
:26:51. > :26:54.we can improve links to Belfast International Airport, and maybe I
:26:55. > :26:57.know we have regrettably Yost the United flight, but getting more
:26:58. > :27:04.North American routing to Belfast International, perhaps due to buy or
:27:05. > :27:08.Abu Dhabi, it gives competition. And we all want that, and that is the
:27:09. > :27:13.reason why both airports are doing well because they are providing
:27:14. > :27:16.great choice to customers on the island, and our visitors, and come
:27:17. > :27:22.at you know, the idea of saying we should give, you know, ?9 million to
:27:23. > :27:25.one airlines to one routes, when actually Northern Ireland has
:27:26. > :27:28.reduced its funding into the promotion of Northern Ireland 's
:27:29. > :27:35.tourism proposition through not -- Tourism Ireland to just ?11 million,
:27:36. > :27:39.now, a 5 million fall, over 30% since 2011. Why not use that money
:27:40. > :27:43.to promote Northern Ireland rather than just one basket. I agree,
:27:44. > :27:49.because one of the things we would like to see it is Air Passenger Duty
:27:50. > :27:53.being removed, VAT is being reduced to the Irish public levels, and what
:27:54. > :27:57.we should really be doing is look at promoting two great airports,
:27:58. > :28:06.getting lots more passengers going in, and that's the way to do. I know
:28:07. > :28:10.a thing or two about this apart from running the largest business
:28:11. > :28:16.enterprise I can think of in the island, I am a tourist. We visited
:28:17. > :28:20.many many areas recently of Ireland, and it is great value, and many
:28:21. > :28:29.people are turning north to spend their tourism pound or euro. What is
:28:30. > :28:32.your point? You are happy to do that, that is good value, that is
:28:33. > :28:38.attractive, you are happy to say that, and bang the drum for tourism
:28:39. > :28:42.in Northern Ireland. But... But that doesn't make it a Gateway for the
:28:43. > :28:49.International island of Ireland? Well, it doesn't serve many places
:28:50. > :28:54.beyond GB. John, we don't need one date, two dates are fine. One of the
:28:55. > :28:58.things we can do... Nobody is objecting to that, and what we are
:28:59. > :29:02.going to do significantly better, running really well today, and it
:29:03. > :29:06.has to be able to live up to the mission it sets for itself and it
:29:07. > :29:11.could not do it today. It only serves holiday-makers to the sun,...
:29:12. > :29:14.What we want to see is more international routes, particularly
:29:15. > :29:20.routes coming from North America to Belfast. The point is you can't even
:29:21. > :29:24.hold on to the one Tran and I dig route that we have? That is what we
:29:25. > :29:30.need to do, Mark, we need to bring that in and attract the money. This
:29:31. > :29:32.United had an aircraft with an 80% load factor and you're telling me a
:29:33. > :29:40.major international airline couldn't make money on that? That's what
:29:41. > :29:43.United says? With respect, the difference is that Northern Ireland
:29:44. > :29:47.wanted to pay that airline that kind of money out of taxpayer funds.
:29:48. > :29:55.Dublin airport runs as a stand-alone business without any money from the
:29:56. > :30:04.state, no money from taxpayers... All talk over each other. Dublin
:30:05. > :30:08.airport is a state owned airline. It earns money for the state, which it
:30:09. > :30:17.gives. It doesn't get any money from the state. But it also gets money
:30:18. > :30:21.from the state money, for this new runway, for example. Private money!
:30:22. > :30:25.And it is that which it should be done and a fantastic management team
:30:26. > :30:30.doing a great job team offered choice for the whole island, and
:30:31. > :30:33.international travellers. Tourism Ireland has bought around a
:30:34. > :30:38.fantastic situation for Ireland's tourism delivering 900 travel agents
:30:39. > :30:41.promoting Northern Ireland as a tourism destination. That is a
:30:42. > :30:48.fantastic given to the business, and that is why tourism is booming. A
:30:49. > :30:51.couple of sentences these close, Steve. I think the great point is
:30:52. > :30:54.that Graham pointed out the fact that a vast international can be a
:30:55. > :30:57.really good international link to Ireland, and what we do need is new
:30:58. > :31:02.North American routes and new routes to the middle east. I think doing
:31:03. > :31:06.that and also the prospect of being able to work closely across the
:31:07. > :31:10.island of Ireland, bringing people in, that's good news for the entire
:31:11. > :31:11.island. Thanks very much both indeed.
:31:12. > :31:14.Time now to hear more from tonight's commentators, Fionnuala and Alex.
:31:15. > :31:17.Does Graham Keddie have a point when he says Belfast is a better
:31:18. > :31:19.gateway to the island than Dublin in this new political
:31:20. > :31:31.I don't to be honest. It sounds fanciful to me, and it's a shot that
:31:32. > :31:35.he's having a go, and why wouldn't he? Perhaps it could be, but I find
:31:36. > :31:42.the airport as it is fairly hard to see is that kind of proposition. And
:31:43. > :31:47.Dublin does have an image that Belfast doesn't have. It's
:31:48. > :31:51.interesting, though, and it is interesting to hear a Unionist MLA
:31:52. > :31:54.talking about the island of Ireland very un-subconsciously and talking
:31:55. > :31:59.about it in the warmest way to stop it a good thing to hear, and in the
:32:00. > :32:05.best thing of all is to hear the two tourist birds could walk together,
:32:06. > :32:09.and focus on both bits of the island. Does this conversation
:32:10. > :32:13.fundamentally underscore the need for people to reconsider a political
:32:14. > :32:18.and economic landscape after June by a vote for the UK to leave the EU?
:32:19. > :32:21.Evelyn has changed. All bets are off, because you talk about things
:32:22. > :32:28.with the Gateway to Ireland. The problem is by the time we get to
:32:29. > :32:32.2019, 2020 when we might have some idea or of what Brexit will apply,
:32:33. > :32:36.you can't simply say that fly into Belfast and that opens up the entire
:32:37. > :32:40.island, because we don't know if there is going to be a border, for
:32:41. > :32:42.example. We don't know if there will be a battle between the euro and
:32:43. > :32:47.sterling. They could be this huge battle. All the growth factors the
:32:48. > :32:54.Executive have to pamper the airlines with is crazy. Talking
:32:55. > :32:58.about the Sports Minister, Paul Givan, earlier. Playing football in
:32:59. > :33:08.Lisburn today. What did you make of it? Lovely to see. The thing is that
:33:09. > :33:12.anything like this is lovely to see. Is it politically significant? Yes,
:33:13. > :33:14.in a sense. The last time I saw Paul Givan doing anything similar
:33:15. > :33:19.committee was lighting a bonfire for the 12th. And, you know, pretty
:33:20. > :33:29.enthusiastically lighting it. So, if he can do this, and helping the GAA,
:33:30. > :33:33.for a long time, or something be you -- a Unionist as purely separate
:33:34. > :33:36.from a purely sporting, so it is good to see a young, fit minister
:33:37. > :33:50.behaving like a daddy, taking the blow, taking the ball is... LAUGHTER
:33:51. > :33:56.I meant fit in a sporting sense. I was helping you come of there! There
:33:57. > :33:59.he was doing dad football. It was dad football, but I'd like to see
:34:00. > :34:01.the uncut footage. That's it from The View
:34:02. > :34:04.for this week. Join me for Sunday Politics
:34:05. > :34:07.at 11.35 here on BBC One. But before that, here's a snippet
:34:08. > :34:09.from the Canadian Parliament, and over there, they don't
:34:10. > :34:17.like the wind up 'em. Why isn't he in the structure
:34:18. > :34:21.minister talking about how to implement in the structure front and
:34:22. > :34:25.get in the structure workers back to work in Alberta? Why does this
:34:26. > :34:30.government Street Alberta like a Fat in the room like nobody wants to
:34:31. > :34:33.talk about or acknowledge? That is where my constituency has been at
:34:34. > :34:37.with this government. And by the way, constituents, there are liberal
:34:38. > :34:47.members across the aisle that are laughing at me and therefore you. I
:34:48. > :34:56.want to question the use of this unparliamentary word that she used.
:34:57. > :35:01.The word she used was Fat. Is my colleagues serious? I gave an
:35:02. > :35:04.impassioned speech, and that is what the leader of the parties called me
:35:05. > :35:05.up # It's a marshmallow world
:35:06. > :35:08.in the winter... # Don't fear your kitchen
:35:09. > :35:10.THIS Christmas.