It is a great honour to speak here as somebody who is enthusiastic about Gaelic games and soccer and played those games all my life. We have come an awful long way.

Sentiment score: 0.23

I thank Deputy Gogarty very much. We also played in Old Trafford for Ireland against England. I grew up in Boyle and I was treasurer of that club. Many years ago we played on pitches with wooden goalposts, dry lime, long grass, bushes you togged out in, nets made of rope and cow dung. Things have come on an awful long way. I remember coming up here in 1987 with the then Fianna Fáil Deputy, Seán Doherty, to meet Frank Fahey who was the new Minister for sport. I remember we got £20,000. It was worth nearly £200,000. That built our clubhouse and we have come a long way since that. I thank the lotto but also the Department of sport for the amount of great work that has been done to provide facilities not just for soccer and Gaelic games but for all sports around the country. It has made a huge difference and it is great to see. It is great to see Deputies in the St. Pats, Waterford, Limerick, Dundalk and Drogheda jerseys. I will hop a few balls here; I am a big Rovers supporter. There is only one "Rovers" and that is Sligo Rovers. I understand there is a team in Dublin called Shamrocks. I will get in trouble for this. We got €16.4 million through the sports capital grant for Sligo Rovers. It is a community club. Money went to Bohemians as well. That is what it is about. If you want to get funding in this sports capital grant, you have to have good data and good governance. That is when the money will come out. Again, I thank Tommy Higgins and all in Sligo Rovers. They have a really professional group. I ran a double-decker bus to Germany in 1988. We beat England 1-0. It cost us €295 for two weeks, food kitty and drink kitty, but beating England was priceless. We went 32 years before England beat us again in Wembley in 2020. The victory in 1988 brought on the Celtic tiger because of the amount of pride it gave to Irish people, especially those living in London, Birmingham and around the world, as well as in Ireland. We beat England at their game and no blood was spilt. That is what sport is about. That is what it is really about. The only shareholding I have is 1,000 shares I bought when Fergus McCann was rebuilding Parkhead for Celtic F.C. in Glasgow. They are worth about €2,000 but I am very proud of that club, which has huge Irish connections. I put on record that Ray Houghton, the man who put the ball in the English net, is probably one of the greatest ambassadors we have for soccer. He is a lovely guy and he represents himself really well around the world. A lot of great work has been done and I thank the Minister of State. I thank the then Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, for the €16.4 million that came. I particularly thank Catherine Martin who was the Green Party Minister at the time because she ensured that got over the line. That has made a huge difference. Sligo Rovers will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2028 and the Minister of State who is very close to us will come down and visit that day. Again, it is great to see everyone here. It is good to see Joanna Byrne as well.

Sentiment score: 0.25