Arlene Foster, the Tourism Minister, has found herself at the centre of a political row over a podcast promoting tourism in Belfast.

The Fermanagh/South Tyrone representative has refused to sign off on the £100,000 tourism initiative because she believes the script relating to West Belfast gives a purely nationalist perspective of past events. She said it suggested violence during the Troubles only came from the Unionist side.

The matter was debated at the Assembly this week, when the Sinn Féin West Belfast representative, Paul Maskey, asked the Minister when the podcast initiative would be launched.

Responding, Mrs Foster said: "I have no doubt that cultural tourism has a part to play in Northern Ireland. We have a rich cultural identity that provides the potential to encourage more visitors, particularly from overseas, to come here."
She went on: "When developing a cultural product for Northern Ireland, it is vital that the product is accurate, informative and balanced and that it takes into account the needs of visiting tourists and the residents of Northern Ireland."

However, she continued: "Looking at the podcast script for west Belfast, I cannot say that the commentary for the area is either accurate or balanced. I have concern that the script is politically biased towards one community. Before the podcasts are published, I want to see a revision to the West Belfast script. I will be more than happy to support the podcast publication as soon as an accurate, informative and balanced script is produced."

However, Mr Maskey expressed his disappointment with Mrs Foster's answer saying.

"I am very angry because that process has been ongoing for more than two years. Well over £100,000 of public money will have been wasted if the initiative is not finalised by the end of June 2009."

He went on: "People have worked very hard to bring forward the proposal. Experts from the area and all the area partnership boards in Belfast put together the scripts. When we were asked about the differences that the Minister may have, a group of experts and historians was brought in to check the data in the West Belfast script, and they agreed to the script. When will it be ready, or is the Minister going to waste more than £100,000 of taxpayers' money?"

Mrs Foster responded: "The Member should realise that this Minister did not set up the panel to which he referred, and this Minister will not be bound by anything that others do. I have to be satisfied that the scripts are accurate and balanced, and, quite frankly, the scripts for West Belfast are neither.

"One script refers to how loyalists fired from the Shankill area over the street before the peace wall was erected. To any objective person, the script suggests that everything came from one side," she continued.

"It is a matter of record that that is simply not true. I will not be involved in anything that is not balanced. If the Member is seriously concerned about a waste of public funds, he should tell the people who are involved in the podcast initiative to give me something that I can sign off. If that is provided, I will be only too happy to sign off on it."