Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

Before I begin, I will give credit to Erica Stoll, who conducted herself with immense dignity, poise and grace during the Ryder Cup in the face of the abuse she experienced while her husband, Rory McIlroy, was playing. That abuse has no place in any sport whatsoever. It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge that here today. It was wholly inappropriate and those responsible for it need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and figure out what exactly they were trying to achieve.

Decent sports facilities should not be luxuries because they are the foundation for community health and opportunity. We all know the headline figures but, while any funding is always welcome, the story beneath the headline exposes unfairness in some areas being consistently under-resourced in comparison to others. Earlier this year, Storm Éowyn took down the wall of Longford Town Football Club's stadium. That wall stayed down for months. No funding came through from Government or UEFA. In the end, the club paid for the repair with donations and local goodwill. That is just not sustainable. It is not fair to the communities who give so much to the game that they are continually asked to dig deeper and deeper. We must do better.

Not too far away from that stadium, Mostrim United in Edgeworthstown is one of the fastest growing clubs in Longford with some 150 children playing every week. However, those kids have to travel to Granard because there is no proper astro pitch for them to train on in their own home town. That is the real story. It is about those young players being left behind and the message that is being sent to them. This is happening against a fall in participation in sports. Teachers told me this week of concerns at school level. We are losing children at these stages, when activity, belonging and teamwork matter most. We should be trying to keep them engaged.

We have been talking about League of Ireland academies, pathways to elite performance and the important and vital work they do but without facilities and grassroots supports, who will be taking up those pathways? I genuinely fear that we will expose further disenfranchisement among rural and poorer communities. Do we want to keep patching walls when they fall and relying on locals and volunteers to dig ever deeper or do we want to invest properly in sport, pitches, facilities and the future of our young people? I know what my answer is.

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