Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just to provide a bit of background, the Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project sport and cultural exchange is between Ireland and Palestine, the shamrock being the symbol of Ireland and the olive tree being the symbol of Palestine. It is an all-Ireland initiative. We have boxers and clubs from Dublin, Belfast and Waterford taking part, linked in with El Barrio Boxing Club in Ramallah. For the sake of full disclosure I should say that I was not part of the group at the start, but I was invited to be part of the delegation that visited Palestine in November of last year. We got fantastic support from the Irish consulate in Ramallah, and also from the Ministry of Sport in Palestine. Palestinian boxers will be coming over here later this year. It might be in August, but that might be too early because of visa issues. The question I asked was not about Sport Ireland; I asked what supports the Department can give to this sporting and cultural initiative.

See this speech in context