It is an extraordinary attempt at an Irish solution to tell us that the game of football the Irish national team is going to play against a country the Irish State believes is committing genocide against its people will now take place at a neutral venue and expect that to be some form of compromise. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, referenced that the Taoiseach himself believes that Israel's actions against the Palestinian people and people in Gaza amounts to genocide. The Irish State has aligned itself to an International Court of Justice case that agrees this is genocide. Yet, we are now expected to take part in a game of football, or any sport, as if it is just normal that we remove our obligations and try to unsee what we have been watching every single day for the past three years and to which we have added legal weight at the highest international courts. What actually makes a venue neutral? Will the Minister of State paint a picture for me of this neutral venue in some other state? Do the obligations of the Genocide Act not apply there? Are the players, who we expect to walk into the stadium, expected to leave their morality at the door? The Minister of State has said he will not attend the fixture in Ireland, presumably as a form of protest. That is a message but he expects the players to leave their morality at the door of the stadium on the way in. Does the Minister anticipate the stadium to be filled with fans or does he anticipate this neutral venue to be behind closed doors? Does the Minister of State reckon the capacity of the stadium would exceed about 75,000? When the Irish players look out into the stadium at the empty seats they may see a lost Gazan life that was taken by the same country whose flag now stands up beside our Tricolour and whose anthem we will listen to alongside our national anthem. Is that the Minister of State's expectation of an empty stadium where one can probably see dead Gazan bodies? Does he imagine there would be journalists there? Would those journalists have any consideration for the Gazan journalists who were targeted by Israel precisely because they could not tell the story of the horrors that are being inflicted there? Football is something that I have lived by my whole life. It is where I found a lot of my identity. It is where I became inspired as a kid. The Gazan children who were murdered will not be inspired by a match that plays at this neutral venue, where apparently our obligations under the Genocide Act do not apply and where players are asked to leave their morality at the door. I am a football fan. I cheer wildly when Ireland scores but I do not care about six points in the Nations League division two if what we are asked to do is separate our morality or conscience to achieve that. This is not normal. This should not be seen as normal. I would not like to see the Irish team line out against Russia and I would protest that. I cannot separate the hypocrisy of being asked to do so against a state that the Irish State believes, at the highest levels, is carrying out a genocide. Sport and politics always mix. There has been no time in history where sport and politics have not mixed. Where would we like to start? Yesterday I referenced examples from Ireland, from Yugoslavia, and from apartheid South Africa. I can go back in history as long as we want. Sport has always been a means by which people present their identity and their politics but on this particular occasion the Tricolour will fly alongside the flag of a nation we believe is carrying out genocide. There is weight to the Minister of State's office. There is weight to the Taoiseach's office. When he referred to the genocide, it was a brave decision but it does not stop there. In recognition of genocide, we also apply the standard that we will not treat as normal a state we believe is carrying out genocide. I understand the complexities but I also understand the simple reality that courage matters now more than ever.

Sentiment score: -0.01