Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue has said the use of the placename "Londonderry" on a new €2.6 million cross-Border tourism website was "something that we have to live with".
Mr O'Donoghue and Northern Minister for Trade and Enterprise Angela Smith yesterday launched the www.discoverireland.com website, which will promote the island of Ireland as a holiday destination in 27 markets worldwide and 14 languages.
The website features information on over 30,000 tourism products including accommodation, festivals, attractions and events.
It contains links to information on each of the 32 counties on the island of Ireland.
The Northern Ireland section includes a link to information on "Londonderry".
In an interview with RTÉ yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said that, while he had his own views on the issue, "it would not serve anybody's purpose to engage in a political debate".
He said the tourism bodies North and South were trying to ensure the sector attracted more than eight million visitors this year.
Mr O'Donoghue said Northern Ireland Tourism, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland had responsibility for designing the website and that the British government had contributed to the €2.6 million project.
Speaking at the launch of the website in Belfast, the Minister said an ever-growing number of holidaymakers were using the internet to plan and book holidays. He said 70 per cent of the target audience in the US market used the internet for tourism and travel bookings.
