Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. I know time is constrained. I will make my comments and the witnesses might have a chance to speak to me afterwards. On rugby, first I want to wish the lads and everyone involved the best of luck on Friday. To be honest, the sport has been a great source of pride to us as a 32-county sport. It is brilliant to bring everyone together so they should be congratulated on that. There are two points I would make. In some of the areas and some of the schools I represent, no one plays rugby. More should be done to promote the game in non-traditional areas.

Regarding the FAI, first I want to wish the ladies the very best of luck in Australia. There is a lady on the team called Denise O'Sullivan from my own area of Knocknaheeny in Cork. We are very proud of her. We are very proud of all of them. I have seen soccer grow. Soccer now is not the same as it was 20 or 30 years ago. The FAI should be congratulated on its success but I would like to see more investment in facilities. A lot of soccer grounds need to be brought up to standard.

I am a lifelong member of the GAA. I only stepped down as chairman of my club last year, after ten years, but I am still involved. I have been 37 years on the committee and 47 years involved in the club. Let us be honest. Whether people understand it or not, hurling is a minority sport. In his opening statement Mr. Ryan spoke about encouraging people. If the GAA is not going to have the top hurling games on the television how are we expected to compete? Whether the GAA understands that or not, soccer is after taking over in working-class areas and rugby is after taking over in the more affluent areas. The GAA's base is not what it used to be. I do not know if people in Croke Park understand that but I know this for a fact because I am coaching teams on the ground and I have been for years.

I have serious concerns about hurling. Every serious hurling match should be shown live.

I will finish on this. Ms O'Connor mentioned the 20x20 campaign. There is the usual thing with the GAA when it comes to equality. The girls are out now looking for equality-----