Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I wish to make a few points on sports capital projects in County Donegal. When Deputy McDaid was Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation he delivered, which I acknowledge. The people of County Donegal will always acknowledge that during his tenure as Minister, they did well in getting a substantial amount of funding for voluntary organisations at grassroots level ranging from snooker clubs to Gaelic clubs to soccer clubs to boxing clubs. It is much appreciated in that part of the country.

A sports complex was sanctioned in Letterkenny and funding is pending. I hope the project will not become a white elephant because it is an ambitious one which will require a substantial amount of money. It is not at the tentative, early stages. Much of the work has been done by Letterkenny Urban District Council and a lot of the negotiations have taken place. However, we await money, which is a problem.

I am being parochial when I refer to another ambitious project which tried to get off the ground a few years ago. Paul McGinley, an ambassador for this country and a member of the recent and previous Ryder Cup team, and a group of his colleagues tried to develop a golf course not too far from my home town. The syndicate involved came up against a number of obstacles which were blamed on the EU. There is still the possibility of negotiation and if there was a golf course with Paul McGinley's name attached to it, it would do well and would generate tourism.

Senator O'Toole referred to sports on the school curriculum. While we could dwell too much on the physical infrastructure — the sports complexes — which are needed for sports such as football, soccer and swimming, it is important we do not miss out on opportunities for adventure sports. We are surrounded by water. I was born two miles from the sea but I do not surf, sail, canoe or participate in any water sport. That is due to the fact they are not done in schools because the resources are not available. It is embarrassing to find people from Belfast coming down every weekend to participate in these sports. The facilities are available in the North for people to engage in and to develop these skills. Adventure sports include not only water sports but hill walking, mountain climbing and abseiling. We have the natural physical infrastructure. We should develop a whole range of facilities and services to engage young people in these sports.

My colleague, Senator John Paul Phelan, has referred to obesity as the new buzz word. We could talk about it until the cows come home. The solution is to engage people in natural, cost-efficient outdoor activity in their own backyard. The only obstacle young people in Letterkenny find is that they do not have youth leaders, workers or bus services to take them five miles out the road to the outdoor pursuit centre. It is an excellent centre that works within limited budgets. In the past two summers it has been trying to develop sailing for local people in rural areas of Donegal. The centre is about drive and capacity and working to get resources to encourage young people to engage in natural activity outdoors that will get them out of the house and away from the Nintendo. I know we do not have many facilities for white water rafting or such like, but this is something that is great craic, good fun, with a good buzz, a natural and healthy pursuit. There is no reason we should not encourage young people to follow the example of the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, who is with us at the moment.

On a final note, I agree wholeheartedly with the debate on the GAA. Mr. Seán Kelly, that organisation's president, attended a committee meeting of the Houses last week. He was upfront and completely honest about what the GAA is doing. It is the backbone of voluntary activity in this country, in terms of getting young people out of doors and involved in sport. The debate should not degenerate into a discussion about whether Croke Park should or should not be opened up. The GAA has traditionally been among the top three organisations in this country, along with the church and another body whose name I will not put on record here, but which might be relegated——