I am standing here as a GAA person. However, in my community I see the power and the work that soccer teams, soccer clubs and soccer coaches have done. I have seen over the last 40 years how the number one sport in Cork was hurling. The number one sport now in Cork is soccer. There are a number of reasons for that but I have seen it taking off. The amount of young people playing the game is unbelievable but some of the sporting facilities are horrendous. They are shocking. How this Government has failed soccer over the years is wrong. I look at the community in soccer and how important it is. This Friday night there is the Togher el clásico. It is a soccer game that has been organised. I send my sincere condolences to the family of Eileen O'Leary following her tragic passing. She was buried this week. What happened was a real tragedy. Five other houses were damaged. Soccer teams are coming together - Pearse Celtic and Greenwood FC - and on Friday night they are staging the game as a fundraiser. That shows how soccer is at the heart of local communities. I wish them the very best with that. I want to talk about the amount of clubs in my area. It is unbelievable. There is Castleview AFC, Temple United FC, Rockmount AFC, St. Mary's AFC, Mayfield United AFC, Blackstone Rovers FC. My problem is that if I start naming them I am going to miss some, like Blarney United FC and Ballincollig AFC. There are so many, but they need support. I will give the Minister of State some figures because sometimes it comes down to figures and funding. Cork received, on average, €50 per capita in sports funding in 2023. That is €20 less per capita than the national average. That shows that Cork is not being supported the way it should be, and I believe the figure nationally is way too low. It affects the smaller clubs. There is a club in my community, Knocknaheeny Celtic. Over the last year it has had no dressing rooms. Through work by local councillors, Michelle Gould and Kenneth Collins, Cork City Council and Ross O'Callaghan, the club now has temporary accommodation, but it has no fencing. We are trying to get more people playing soccer but the smaller clubs in the most disadvantaged areas are always the ones that lose out the most. Four soccer clubs on the northside of Cork city applied for funding in 2023. Not one of them got the full allocation. I will explain. If clubs from working-class areas or clubs from areas that are not as socially successful as others do not get all the funding they request, they will not be able to deliver the projects. That needs to be taken into consideration. We know that when kids are playing sports, especially kids from disadvantaged areas, it makes a huge difference to the outcomes in their lives. We are very proud of the women who won the other night. Denise O'Sullivan from my community is a true leader and role model for everyone. The soccer boys did us proud. We should not be playing any games with Israel and I stand by Joanna Byrne 100%.

Sentiment score: -0.02