I thank and commend Sinn Féin and Deputy Byrne, in particular, on bringing this motion forward. There is another motion being brought forward tomorrow by the Social Democrats and I am thankful it is being brought forward as well. Football is like no other sport. It is the world's game. It is the global game. It cuts through class, identity and borders like no other. It unites people. It has a long history of expression and political expression, whether it is the troops in the fields of Flanders in 1914 or the numerous examples of boycotting or expelling countries for gross violations of human rights or apartheid, such as South Africa. It is a part of who we are. When you tell someone which football team you support, it identifies you in a way that is outside of your friends, family and community. It adds a layer of understanding to the individual. When we combine that with patriotism and with our country, it is an expression of who we are. Therefore, when people ask why we are so exercised about these two games against Israel going ahead, it is because it is an expression of who we are. We are not a country that in any way wants to endorse, celebrate or stand shoulder to shoulder and engage in regular sporting competition with a state that commits genocide. That is it. It is not easy, and it will have some consequences. What are the consequences? It is losing some points. There may be some financial consequences. We may have to answer to some people in UEFA. We should be leading the charge to UEFA in terms of garnering support for others to stand should to shoulder and say "No, we do not accept this from the State of Israel". It is not a normal state. It is obliterating the international rules and international law. It is committing genocide. It is carrying out illegal ongoing occupations in the West Bank. It is continuing to launch invasions and ethnic cleansing up through Lebanon. We saw today more killings taking place in the city of Tyre. We do not bat an eyelid when there are sanctions against Russia in the sporting world, and rightly so. In times gone by, we did not bat an eyelid in terms of sanctioning South Africa, and rightly so, but why this exceptionalism? Why do we in Europe, in the global north, in the western world or whatever you want to call it continue to embrace Israel as a normal state in our neighbourhood when it is anything but? It is an abhorrent and criminal state that is carrying out the worst atrocities on a number of fronts at this moment, and has been at an intense rate for the last two and a half years at least. That is not going back any further but we can if we want because its crimes go back many decades. The Taoiseach accuses us of moralising on this issue. Yes, it is the moral issue. It is a moral issue. It is immoral to play these games. It is immoral to welcome Israel and stand shoulder to shoulder and compete with Israel in international sporting competition. The higher that sporting competition is and the higher the profile and the more accepted it is, such as the global game of soccer, the more immoral it becomes and the stronger the stance we have to take. I am proud of being Irish for many reasons but I am proud of the stances we as individuals, as communities and as governments over the years of different combinations and hues have taken against despotic regimes, international crimes and apartheid regimes. I am ashamed that we are not doing that the way we should right now. If this all washes through our Parliament over the next number of months, all we may have to show is a couple of things - a recognition of the State of Palestine, which is not unimportant, and a watered down version of the occupied territories Bill. That is not good enough. That does not reflect what the Irish people believe and what the Irish people want. More specifically, speaking about football, the majority of Irish football fans do not want this game to go ahead. The majority of Irish football players do not want this game to go ahead. The majority of the FAI general assembly do not want this game to go ahead. Together in this Chamber, we have an opportunity with these two matches to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, and southern Lebanon and to say "No", that we will support our FAI and our footballers through whatever sanctions will be imposed on them and that we will look for support from other European nations and nations beyond Europe to stand up to Israel in football and in other sports. The FAI's decision to move this to a neutral venue is an answer to a question nobody asked. This game should not take place in a neutral venue. It should just not take place. We need to stop the game.

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