Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Minister to the House, to which he is no stranger. He was a Member here for many years. I have no doubt that most Members in this House and in the Lower House support this international bid. I need not reiterate that this is a huge opportunity but I believe it is important to do so. It could place the island of Ireland, North and South, in the international shop window and display all that is good about Irish culture, Irish sport and, most importantly, Irish people.

I cannot boast the same rugby heritage as my colleague, Senator Richmond, however I do share his passion for sport. My background is that I am a lifelong player, member and, currently, an administrator in the Gaelic Athletic Association. I am particularly delighted that my association has thrown its full support behind this bid. I heard the concerns of Senator Ó Ríordáin outlining the generation in which we grew up. I even remember talking about the ban, under which great GAA players were unfortunately banned from playing if they were found to be playing soccer or rugby. That is in the past. Irish society and sport have matured in a very positive way. Nowadays we see that GAA supporters are the best supporters of rugby and soccer. Irish supporters are famous the world over for supporting their sports icons. That will continue and will contribute to this particular bid in a very positive way.

I acknowledge that this legislation is a necessity. It is required to underwrite the commitments and the guarantees which are necessary to successfully host an international competition such as the Rugby World Cup 2023. We have already seen how our Irish representatives represent us. We have seen the Irish and British Lions and the way they exemplified commitment and passion in taking on the rugby world champions, New Zealand, last weekend. The composition of the Irish rugby team brings us back to our political heritage and roots. I spoke about the ban and political division was spoken about. It gives me great pride to be able to go and support an Irish rugby team which represents the 32 counties of Ireland regardless of the players' diverse backgrounds and religions. That is the benefit of sport and people have alluded to that. I do not want to have a negative tone but it is concerning when one hears some politicians, who are supposed to be representative, speaking in a negative way about rugby.Sometimes they refer to those who support rugby as west Brits. I am a nationalist and a republican. I give 100% support to this bid and the Irish rugby team. The IRFU, the Government and the FAI, with the associations in the North of Ireland, are to be commended for the manner in which they have come together to try to make the bid successful.

In the time remaining to me I want to speak briefly about the benefits to the regional economy such a bid could produce. I come from the south east and know that a number of stadia in various regions, North and South, are listed in the application. It is important that appropriate infrastructure be in place. I again commend the FAI, the GAA and the IRFU for the massive investment they have made in playing facilities for the grassroots and also in stadiums which could host huge international competitions. With a mind to the regions and the transport, tourism and sport aspects, the tourism infrastructure is in place; the transport infrastructure is in place and could be developed further and the sports infrastructure is in place. I, therefore, offer my full support to the bid and wish the Government and the various bodies supporting it all the best. The likes of Dick Spring, Hugo MacNeill, Brian O'Driscoll and so many others who are supporting the bid behind the scenes, both in the North and the South, deserve our support. They definitely have mine.