Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Keeping to the cultural theme, I wish the House a happy Bloomsday, particularly Senator Norris who has moved on from this morning. Like every football fan on this island, I am delighted to see both Irish teams competing in the European Championships this year. To qualify in the first place was a massive achievement and although both teams are playing well, we are still awaiting a first win. I hope it comes tonight for Northern Ireland against Ukraine. That said, I cannot help thinking how much stronger an all-Ireland football team and indeed an all-Ireland football association could be with the likes of Kyle Lafferty and Shane Long playing alongside each other and, more important, the pooling of grass-roots resources into a united effort to get more boys and girls off the couch and on to the sports field. With a lifetime involvement in many sports, I have seen at first hand the benefits of cross-Border co-operation in sport, whether it was playing schoolboy rugby matches in Belfast or a more recent visit to Craigavon to play American football of all things. Sport is always the winner and one of the best tools to break down many barriers. The exemplary behaviour of both sets of Irish fans, including Senator Ó Ríordáin, at the weekend, has been heartening against the background of hooliganism over the weekend in Marseilles and, unfortunately, again last night in Lille. The tribute paid by fans at the game against Sweden on Monday following the tragic death of Ballymena man Darren Rodgers was not just fitting but very moving. It shows how far both sets of fans have come since the dark days of the Troubles, days when my late father and his friends were afraid to cheer Gerry Armstrong's goal against Spain in 1982 in a Dublin pub for fear of abuse and when Republic of Ireland fans dreaded the sectarian atmosphere of Windsor Park. Those days, thankfully, are passing, if not completely passed. The issue has been raised by in the previous Seanad by Senator Noone and former Senator, Paul Bradford.

With a new Government in place, I ask the Leader to call on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who is a keen football fan, to engage with us in the Seanad and talk to his Northern counterpart as well the CEOs of both football associations to build on the progress of the Setanta Cup and to follow the example of the GAA's international rules team, the Irish rugby team which had a great win at the weekend, the Irish hockey team which will be going to Rio de Janeiro for the first time and the Irish cricket team which is currently battling the showers against Sri Lanka in Malahide. Let us merge our two football teams and every sports team on the island to put Ireland on the strongest possible footing in every sporting contest.