James Heffernan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests in the Visitors Gallery. I wish good luck to the Irish powerchair soccer team who are taking part in the European championships being held in the University of Limerick starting tonight. It is a minority sport and the issue of funding for minority sports needs to be examined.

I attended a fantastic event near Dublin Castle last night when Alex Baburin, Ireland's Russian born resident chess grand master, tried to emulate a record set in 1879 by another grand master, Johannes Zukertort, by playing 16 games of chess simultaneously while blindfolded.

He tried to emulate a record set in 1879 by another grand master, Johannes Zukertort, when he aimed to play 16 simultaneous games of chess while blindfolded. It was amazing to see how he could remember every move on every board as he moved around the hall. While he did not match the record, he had won six of the games, drawn two and lost two by the time it was called off. He had played from 5 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. The Irish Chess Union is to be congratulated for organising such an event. It informed me last night that it did not receive one bean of funding from any Department. I do not know if chess is a sport recognised by the Irish Sports Council, but if it is not receive any funding to keep this fantastic game going and that should change. We should support the union to include chess in the schools curriculum, particularly when we are in the era of iPads, iPhones, i-this, i-that and i-the-other. Our concentration spans have suffered a great deal as a result. The teaching and coaching of chess in schools would impart valuable lessons to children about the consequences of actions, strategic thinking and being rewarded for doing the right thing. Chess or ficheall boards have been found in archaeological digs throughout the country. It is part of what we are and it would be sad if chess skills were lost owing to a lack of support. I will be calling on the responsible Minister, whether it be the Minister for Education and Skills or the the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, to provide some funding for the Irish Chess Union.