Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I appreciate the extra funding for sport, especially minority sport. Over the years, we looked at sports funding as being for three or four major games, but there has been a rebalancing towards minority sports in the last number of years. The appeals process is a lot more open now. I remember that in our first year in government, it was kind of embarrassing that once a sports capital application was deemed invalid, one had to wait five or six months to find out why. The application system is now much more transparent and user-friendly. Thankfully, a great deal has been done by the Department in that regard.

It has been a bugbear of mine over the last number of years in relation to minority sports that we talk about "one Ireland", "all-Ireland" and "Ireland together". I was very fortunate to be at the Ireland rugby match at Twickenham. The event was a source of great pride for the island of Ireland. There are a lot of all-Ireland sports bodies, including Badminton Ireland, Judo Ireland and Rowing Ireland. I notice that there is a Republic of Ireland Billiards and Snooker Association and I wonder if that sport has gone the same was as the FAI and the IFA. We could do a great deal more to provide facilities as an island. We talk about the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. There was a void for a host for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. I felt the island of Ireland could have made a play for those games. It would unite the people on the island. We were very close to getting an all-Ireland hockey team to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Australia this year on the Gold Coast, but it did not happen. It is something at which we need to look. Commonwealth youth games are coming to Northern Ireland in 2021 and one has a few areas like boxing, tennis and judo which could play a role given the level of funding that has been put into them as minority sports. That would send a very powerful message. We always say we would love to have an all-Ireland soccer team, but it is a two-way street. If we want an all-Ireland soccer team, we should not be afraid to consider competing in the Commonwealth Games. These are things we need to challenge.

A great deal of funding has been invested in rowing, including at the rowing centre at Lough Rynn in my constituency, which is hugely successful. However, we could appeal to the Commonwealth Games in 2021 by opening some of our facilities for use. It would send a powerful signal, albeit not a political one. It is a signal that would result from the Good Friday Agreement. Now more than ever, it should be a two-way street. I ask for views on that subject. We look at Ireland as one island from many sports' perspectives, although there are a few exceptions. The sporting curve is ahead of the political curve.