Dáil debates

Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Investment in Football: Motion [Private Members]

 

11:47 am

Photo of Gerald NashGerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The two things that define me are my football and my class. They are linked inextricably. One of my very first memories is of Northern Ireland playing Spain in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. I was playing football on the street in Newfield, an estate the Minister of State would be familiar with, and I remember being called in to watch a hugely-anticipated match. I drank that match in with two very close friends, with whom I grew up sharing a love of playing football. Twenty years later, one of those lads played for Ireland at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ian Harte, who won 64 caps for Ireland and was a UEFA Champions League semi-finalist. As the Minister of State knows, his brother Michael went on to have a stellar League of Ireland career. Sadly, I did not.

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