Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I echo the call made in the House yesterday for a debate on EirGrid and pylons. The Labour Party Senators in the House will continue to make the case for undergrounding cables across the country. We have recently discovered it can happen in certain parts of the country, so there is no reason it cannot happen everywhere. That is the case we will make.

In 1884 the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded by Michael Cusack and Maurice Davin in Hayes' Hotel in Liberty Square, Thurles. It is little known that the hotel was also the scene of the founding of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in 1974. Indeed, the first All-Ireland championship in ladies football was won by my native County Tipperary. The hotel was the centre of the centenary celebrations in 1984. Cork beat Offaly in the All-Ireland championship that year. In recent months, however, Hayes' Hotel has been put into receivership. According to local councillors and my colleague, Councillor John Kennedy, it is being run into the ground. Staff are being let go and no bookings are being taken in the hotel. The GAA is the largest voluntary organisation in the world. It currently has assets of €2.5 billion and an annual revenue of €100 million but, to date, it has not come forward to purchase or save this iconic building.