Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the decision to hold a public inquiry on the situation involving Sergeant Maurice McCabe and hope the truth will come out. It has been a difficult few years for the McCabe family and now we will have the right mechanism to get to the truth which must be heard.

I want to raise an issue which I do not particularly like raising. On the way to Dublin this morning I was listening to the radio station Shannonside Northern Sound. Last Sunday there was a Gaelic minor football match in Cavan. A lady, the parent of two of the players involved, gave her account of racist abuse suffered at the match which effectively ended in mayhem. I understand the GAA will deal with the matter. It was harrowing to hear, however, that in this day and age there are still racism and sectarianism in sport. The GAA has done a lot of work in this regard, with the FAI, under the Show Racism the Red Card programme. This is, however, a complex problem and there are spectators and players who think they can get away with it. This is a wake-up call. I was taken aback by the account of the lady in question who, while passionate about the GAA, would not like her children to play again. While the GAA will deal with the matter correctly, there is no place for sectarianism and racism in sport, especially among young people. I blame the parents who believe they have a right to use racist and sectarian chants. We must ensure we put a stop to it. During the years, as a former Glasgow Celtic supporter, I remember attending Old Firm matches between Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow which is infamous for sectarianism. The two clubs involved, with the Scottish FA, the Northern Ireland FA and the English FA, have done much to work together to deal with the problem. While the incident to which I am referring happened at a Gaelic football ground, we need to do much more to ensure there will be no place for sectarianism and racism in sport.