Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

Many of us in this Chamber use sport as a form of escapism. For those 33 kids who we are talking about from the West Bank, this is a potential escape from hell, a living hell that has rained down on them for 20 months at the hands of the Israeli genocide. It gives them a sliver of hope in their darkest hour. At the last minute, the Government has shattered their dreams and tried to extinguish that hope by denying them entry to the State for a trip that has been meticulously planned. This morning and again now I have heard the Tánaiste defend this fiasco by talking about a rules-based system. GAA Palestine, however, is adamant that their paperwork is in order. The embassy in Tel Aviv has said it did not put any barriers in place. Of course, if this was a group of Israeli kids, they would enjoy visa-free travel here because the rules-based system has different rules for different groups. The entire nation wants the Government to resolve this.

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