Mr. John Treacy:

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Commonwealth Games is a great competition for developing athletes but it is a political decision. It is definitely beyond my pay grade. We work hand in hand with our colleagues in Sport Northern Ireland and have always had a great relationship with them. The Good Friday Agreement has been very good for sport, certainly for Ireland. We have free movement of athletes. Ireland has definitely benefitted from the Good Friday Agreement with many people born in Northern Ireland competing for Ireland, which is fine. They have a choice. They can compete for Great Britain if they so choose. It has given people their rights so it has been good.

We will work closely with Sport Northern Ireland as it prepares its team for the Commonwealth Games and we will fund many of the athletes who will compete in those games and we are happy to do so. It is very important to say that. We are all involved in sport and all have the same objectives and goals. Our high performance committee met yesterday and a representative from Sport Northern Ireland attended and shared information in terms of who they were funding going forward. We certainly welcome anything the National Sports Campus can in terms of hosting events. We will be proactive in making sure we are bringing events into Ireland.