Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear the positive response. The whole borough of Dún Laoghaire, and indeed the whole country, was very proud of Jack Marley but also of many others of our Olympians and Paralympians. We need to really support and resource them. There is not a proactive approach towards this issue in a lot of the local authorities.

I will take Sallynoggin Pearse for example. Again, it is a community-type club. There are different types of clubs. There are people who are going for the elite areas, there are community-types clubs and clubs that combine those things. They all have their different approaches and styles. There is often a sort of second-guessing of what they need rather than listening to the club and proactively trying to support people who overwhelmingly are working on a voluntary basis and want to do good things for their communities, young people and sport. There is a sort of computer says "No" approach when clubs are trying to get things done. Sallynoggin Pearse is a big example in my area. I mentioned St. Joseph's but I could go through a very long list. Granada Football Club is seeking a fantastic expansion, particular of women's soccer. Similarly, there are GAA clubs looking for resources so the Government has to say to local authorities that there must be a proactive and positive response approach coming from the local authorities and assisting people, rather than giving people hoops to jump over or excuses as to why the local authorities cannot do things.

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