We only have to look at how we got behind Rory McIlroy at the weekend and his back-to-back Masters win to know the Irish people are sports mad. It was an absolutely tremendous achievement but I would argue that nothing lifts the nation like a successful Irish soccer team. It lifts the mood. I congratulate the Irish women's soccer team last night for a wonderful result away in Poland. We also saw how Troy Parrott and his team lifted the mood of the nation over the last couple of months and how the mood dropped after the agonising penalty shoot-out in Czechia. The Government is very quick to take photo opportunities with the national team but you need to put your money where your mouth is. Population-wise, Ireland is very similar to Croatia. Croatia regularly qualifies for major tournaments and goes far in them. Ireland does not. Croatia has 190 full-time academy staff. Ireland has ten. There is a message in there somewhere. The Government has allocated €3 million for League of Ireland academies. That is welcome but it does not go far enough, particularly with the onset of the new national league, which will be the third tier of the League of Ireland. I want to congratulate Lucan United and St. Francis FC from my own area for achieving this status. I believe Letterkenny Rovers FC, in the Minister of State's neck of the woods, has achieved this status. Clubs like that will need assistance. I am a passionate League of Ireland fan. I am at my happiest in Richmond Park cheering on St. Pat's. I travel to games up and down the country. However, the FAI has branded the stadiums in the League of Ireland as archaic, and I have to agree with it. There is only one stadium in the whole country in the League of Ireland that has a 10,000-plus capacity. When I was mayor of South Dublin County Council I had the honour of cutting the ribbon on Tallaght Stadium. It was a bit of a bittersweet moment for me as a St. Pat's supporter cutting the ribbon on a ground for Shamrock Rovers but it goes to show that, with the vision of a local authority like South Dublin County Council and the necessary backing, something like that can be achieved. All stadiums right across the country should be like that. We could have funded this through a simple 1% increase in the betting levy tax. The fact that the Government did not access the Brexit equalisation fund for League of Ireland clubs was a missed opportunity. Like all sports, we have some bad supporters. This is true in the GAA, in rugby and in any other sports. I want to contribute my thoughts on what my colleague, Deputy Joanna Byrne, talked about. The handful of bad actors - bad Drogheda United supporters in Dundalk - were rightly condemned and nobody condemned them more than my friend, Joanna Byrne. However, the response of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, response was absolutely disproportionate. In fact, it was snobbery towards soccer fans. It was like putting a plague on all our houses. Threatening to stop the funding for a whole league because of the action of a few is collective punishment. How dare he? As a League of Ireland fan, I find this totally unacceptable. I also want to stand in solidarity with Deputy Joanna Byrne on her principled and moral response to Ireland playing Israel. As a season ticket holder for Ireland matches, I will not be attending this match. We should not play ball with genocide. Grassroots soccer is something I have been involved in since I was a kid. I have been involved in it all my life. Grassroots clubs in my area are the mainstay of our communities. They keep our young people on the right road and they do not get enough credit or support. In my area the Coldcut land was recently bought by a speculator who is hoping to develop that and get the land rezoned. I am again calling on South Dublin County Council to compulsorily purchase this amenity so clubs like Collinstown FC and Palmerstown FC can have a place to call home and grow. Finally, I congratulate Quarryvale FC for starting an under-sevens' academy in Quarryvale Park. It is the first time in over a decade that we will see kids playing football in that park and the club needs to be commended. However, like all grassroots soccer clubs, it needs to be supported as well.

Sentiment score: 0.18