Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I add my voice to the condolences to the colleagues and family of Garda Kevin Flatley. It reminds us of the dangers that gardaí face every day. We can see the recent work that has been done in my constituency in dealing with incredibly serious organised crime, and I commend the Garda on that. Our thoughts are also with the families of the two teenagers who were lost in Donegal.

As my constituency colleague has stated, in case anyone needed to be told, it was an historic weekend for Louth after 68 years, and all the sweeter for it. I am delighted that the Taoiseach welcomes this and has forgiven Louth for 1957. Beyond that, he sees the necessity of a county stadium. It has already been stated that we have the under-20s, the minors, the ladies football and the camogie, as soon as sense prevails, and I commend the players in that regard. It has been a very good year, even for Louth hurling. However, we do not have a county stadium.

When I brought up this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, he said that LSSIF funding would be determined on the basis of budgetary conditions, and we all understand that. However, when I dealt with the issue with his predecessor, the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, he spoke about the fact the Louth county stadium, alongside Drogheda United, was on the reserve list. It is absolutely necessary that they are on the reserve list if funding becomes available or else top of the list for the next round.

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