I also thank Deputy Gibney for her work in bringing forward this motion and the excellent work done in recent days highlighting what this Government should be doing. It is deeply disappointing to see this amendment moved and the Government should reconsider that seriously. When we talk of sport and football, I will start by reading the words of 13-year-old Saif, who suffered a life-changing injury when he and his uncle were shelled by an Israeli tank. He said that he used to walk but everything he does now is in the chair. He also said that he used to play football with his friends and what he liked most was playing ball down at the sea. Saif cannot play football any more. He will never play football. It was his dream to play for Palestine. The game between Ireland and Israel cannot go ahead, not here, not anywhere. Ireland cannot normalise and legitimise a genocidal regime that continues to bomb children in tents and shelters. The Taoiseach and the Minister talk weasel words about insisting the game must go ahead and talk about losing league standing and losing points. Why must the game go ahead? Israel is committing a genocide. Does the scale and depth of the barbarity and terror in that word - what Israel is doing - mean nothing any more? Surely it is our duty and our role, given how Ireland was colonised and brutalised in the past, that of all people we should be the first European country to take a principled stand and refuse to play Israel, not to mention our legal obligation to prevent genocide and war crimes. Ireland could start a global movement of countries refusing to be complicit with the dystopian terror that Netanyahu is inflicting on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Stopping the game would give hope that there still remains a universal value called, "Our common humanity". Ireland could be a candle in the dark for Gaza. We did it before in 1979, when the Irish Government banned the South African rugby team due to apartheid. Why will this Government not show the bravery that government showed then? There is a rising tide of anger on this. The Government is on the wrong side of history. It is going against the Irish people. The movement will grow until this game is stopped. Stop an cluiche. Déan an rud ceart. Seas suas do Gaza. Caithfidh Éire dóchas a thabhairt don Phalaistín. The game must be stopped. We can and must do it again. I will finish with words from a doctor who writes about his experience in Gaza. It is horrific. He says that what is going on, right now, is hell, hell in one of its most severe forms, and that children have lost their childhoods. He said that a Gazan life, before all of this, was worth everything. Now, he says, it feels as if it is worth nothing. The Minister of State spoke about all the things the Irish Government is doing for Palestine. This is something. It is an act that is within the Government's power. The Minister of State talked about the EU-Israel free trade agreement not being within the Government's power; it is other governments. The Government can do this. If the Minister of State wants, he can stand up today and say, "The Irish Government believes this game should not go ahead". Why will the Minister of State not do that? The Government can support the FAI. It can support the consequences. The Minister of State can say, "Ireland takes leadership. We will take a stand. That is the right thing to do."

Sentiment score: -0.09

On 24 February 2022, the same day that Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia's World Cup qualifier play-off opponents, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, all announced they would refuse to play their matches on Russian soil. Three days later, those three countries announced they were all boycotting the fixtures in their entirety. These decisions were taken without the approval of FIFA. There was no hand-wringing about points deductions, world rankings or finances. They simply made the right decision. After these countries took this action themselves, FIFA then announced that Russia would be suspended indefinitely from international competitions and UEFA announced that Russian clubs would similarly be suspended. Those countries took that decision because, as it was put in a statement released by the Polish players and the Polish FA at the time, there are more important things in life than football. This is a question of principles. Why is Russia's horrific and illegal war in Ukraine different from the genocide, the ethnic cleansing and the apartheid that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people? Israel should not be participating in sporting fixtures while it continues to bombard Gaza and Lebanon, expand settlements in the West Bank illegally and carry out its policies of apartheid. Hundreds of Palestinian footballers are among the victims of the genocide, including Suleiman al-Obeid, the "Palestinian Pelé", who was killed while he was waiting for humanitarian aid. The FAI must take the brave step and refuse to play against this genocidal regime, just as the Polish, Swedish and Czechs did before, and this Government must back them. It must reassure the FAI of its and our full support, financial, political and whatever else. Do not put this on the players. Football bodies take a stand on political issues all the time. They take stands against racism and against advertising alcohol, gambling and smoking. FIFA celebrates inclusivity and pride. These are all intensely political decisions. This decision is no different. Stop the game. Not here, not anymore.

Sentiment score: -0.13