Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's comments probably are more controversial than mine will be. We did everything we possibly could to secure a successful bid. On the question of lobbying, the answer is that, yes, there was lobbying and plenty of it. We are not ashamed of the fact we lobbied and put our case. Politicians lobbied and the Irish Rugby Football Union lobbied. Members of the Opposition lobbied, and I thank them for it. It was a united effort.

I would give a certain amount of credit to some of what the Deputy has said this morning. One must acknowledge that despite the evaluation report, two thirds of the people voting did not take any notice of that information and sent their votes elsewhere. In other words, decisions were not made on the basis of the evaluation report itself.

I did get involved personally in the bid, from my first day as Minister. I met World Rugby on several occasions, I introduced legislation and I travelled at least twice to the United Kingdom to lobby my British counterpart.

See this speech in context