John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

On a more serious note, the question I am raising is when the decision will be made and given the Minister's reply, it is obvious that will not happen for some time.

As somebody involved in the sporting field, and having spoken to Mr. John Treacy and noted Mr. Pat Hickey being quoted, they do not want sport to be used in any way as a political vehicle in this sense.

I suppose the best one could hope from ongoing negotiations would be that progress would be made. If that progress is satisfactory — it would be good if the Minister could promote that within a European context — would he expect to attend the opening of the games?

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