Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)

Certainly.

I was at Croke Park last Sunday and I felt the atmosphere, even if the result was not what we Kerry people would have liked. However, as we say in Kerry, when we lose it is good for the game and when we win, it is good for Kerry. Last Sunday's match was very good for the game. I was impressed with the number of young people I saw taking pride in the Dublin jersey. The city was a sea of blue with young people enjoying themselves like I never saw before, even at rugby and soccer internationals. There was an identification between the people of Dublin and their team in Croke Park. Even as a player I had never felt this. As Senator Ó Murchú stated, it was a younger breed of people and it is encouraging that they embraced this in such a positive way. They were very proud of what their team achieved. I hope they do not achieve the same next year. Garry McMahon was a very good Kerry songwriter, and his brother is chairman of the Abbey Theatre board. He wrote a beautiful song about dúchas - tradition - and two lines sum up Kerry, "And when we lose, there's no excuse, we pick up our bags and go". That is what our lads did last Sunday.