Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being with us.

I thank the Fine Gael Senators for raising this issue because it gives us an opportunity to show-off a bit, I guess, about our own area. As we all know, sport in the community is strong and we are lucky to have so many who are so dedicated to sport for both adults and children.

In many ways, the profile of sport has changed. It used to be just a case of going out and kicking a ball around, but now we have international, tourism, community and health dimensions to it. Whichever way we turn, there are things that we can do and things that we are doing. I am encouraged, when I join all the dots up, as the Minister has, by all the activity that is going on. It is a good day for sport.

I am sorry I missed Senator Brennan's presentation, and also that of Senator Eamonn Coghlan. From the committee room, I could see the latter looking animated. Of course, no better man. He has made his own personal contribution to sport and it is great to see him contributing here. That is really what the Seanad does best, when people bring their individual skills and strengths to the Seanad and to the nation, and Senator Eamonn Coghlan is a fine example of that.

Senator Reilly spoke about women in sport.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the all-Ireland schools under-19 girls basketball finals in the national basketball centre. I was lucky that my daughter was playing for her school, Ursuline College, Sligo, and they won. Needless to remark, we all were overwhelmed and delighted. However, it was an important moment because that is the time at which girls in particular stop playing. They perhaps lose interest in sports and it always has been difficult to keep them involved. When one sees them becoming involved and being highly motivated by good coaches, it really is a good moment.

I acknowledge the encouragement that both the Minister and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, have given on this issue in respect of the junior certificate. However, it would be very important to see it as a leaving certificate subject because that would encourage people to perceive it as being part of their lives and not simply something they did separately. I am aware that some programmes are being undertaken to keep girls engaged in sport because unless one does so, they will not proceed to women's sports. The latter always has been the underdog but this should not be the case. Simply because women are physically weaker and do not have the strength does not mean they lack the skill or the enthusiasm or the commitment to sport.

I would love the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to continue to give a lead in bringing women properly into the 21st century with regard to sport. It is an extremely important issue both for women in general and for the sports as well. The aforementioned example made me realise how it did not matter that they were girls. They had won and had just as much pleasure and joy as any boys' team might have had. However, I should add that the boys of Summerhill College, Sligo, also reached the under-16 final, in which they were runners-up. That says a great deal about basketball in Sligo, which is not a county noted for basketball. Many people are doing a lot of hard work there and I wish to take this opportunity to thank publicly the coaches and parents who really have struggled, pushed and supported those students to do so well.

As the Minister is aware, there is a great scramble each year for the sports capital grants. It is a great system and there will never be enough money. As the Minister noted, there was a shortfall last year and undoubtedly there will be one this year. Is there a possibility of implementing something similar to the philanthropy system that operates in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht? There is matched funding whereby if one can get support, that Department will also provide support. I do not know whether the Minister has considered such a proposal or whether it is possible but I humbly suggest it might be because there are always people who are willing to sponsor sport. Moreover, they are often willing to sponsor it at a local level with €2,000 or €3,000, rather than with the hundreds of thousands of euro that are needed for the showcase sports. I agree they are also needed and as a nation, we must take pride in the moments they provide, which are just as important. However, at a community level, another part of the funding perhaps might be made up in that way. That might open out the sports grants a little and bring in other members of the community, who perhaps once played but no longer play sports themselves but who wish to give something back in that way. Perhaps the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will be able to help in that regard.

I certainly would be shot if I failed to mention cycling. The Minister will be aware that again, Sligo has been leading the way with cycle paths on roads and so on to encourage people in general to cycle. In addition, close to where I live, the Coolaney Development Company intends to have one of four national off-road mountain biking centres. Again, this is a growing high-energy sport and the aforementioned company is doing this in partnership with Coillte. This is a terrific partnership between two arms of the State with people engaging in joined-up thinking to ascertain what can be done to make use of the available land in a new way for the benefit of the people, which I really encourage.

Forgive me if I have missed this point, but can a way be found to support cycling in primary schools in Ireland? My children attended primary school in the United Kingdom and they were all taught cycling at school. It was a great thing to give them confidence on the road and in cycling and not to be opposed to that from an early age. I acknowledge there is the matter of resources but there always are people in the community available. A number of vibrant groups in Sligo are involved in cycling, both the long-haul mad fellows, as I call them, who love to go out for 50 km or 100 km, and those who like to cycle around town and who always have a bike attached to them. Can their energy, enthusiasm and knowledge be harnessed to bring children into cycling at a younger age? Cycling is also very good because it is not very hard on the body, unless of course one becomes one of the mad fellows.

Finally, I welcome the Wild Atlantic Way initiative, of which the Minister's office, as well as that of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, have been hugely supportive. It is a terrific piece of marketing for the west of Ireland. It is a great name that conjures great ideas. There surely must be an opportunity for wild Atlantic sport on the Wild Atlantic Way because we have the cliffs, the sea and the surf. I spoke to a surfer yesterday who loves to surf in Sligo but who finds the waves at Mullaghmore too big. There is an acknowledgement within that community that the beaches in Sligo and all the way up through the north west are terrific for surfing. While this is known, there are many other sports and a chain of wild Atlantic sport would be another way of marketing the Wild Atlantic Way, as well as giving encouragement to those who are trying to invest in those slightly more high-octane sports. There is a market for such sports and people are willing to travel for them. They are not interested in the weather and do not care what it is doing but simply wish to get out there in a great fresh-air environment in a country that is just coming to such sports and which consequently is not yet overwhelmed and has not been spoiled. Ireland has much to offer in that area and from the perspective of tourism potential, it would go a long way towards supporting the Wild Atlantic Way in another fashion. I acknowledge that people are doing this in a small way but if it were grown out of the Minister's own commitment to sport, as well as that of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, it would be a good thing. I thank the Minister for his attendance and for listening.