Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not, because I think Senator Devine did that well enough. As it happens, when I was running for the Seanad I discovered that I had a great-grandfather from County Monaghan, so I can live with these things. I have Mayo, Carlow and Roscommon connections as well.

I thank the GAA president for his measured, deeply thought-out and comprehensive speech. I was a councillor for 12 and a half years in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council before I came here. On the bannister in Dún Laoghaire County Hall is a sign with the letters KTC, which stand for Kingstown Town Commissioners. It would not have been the greatest bastion of Gaelic sports back when that hall was built in 1899 and opened by Queen Victoria. Yet, from that small county, which is only eight miles long and five miles wide, we have Kilmacud Crokes and Cuala. These clubs have done particularly well in recent years despite the fact that they are competing with soccer, rugby, cricket and many other sports that are common in south Dublin. It is a true testament to the GAA that it can be truly an all-Ireland sport in every part of every community, whether large or small. We have other great clubs, including Ballinteer St. John's, St. Olaf's and Geraldines P. Moran GAA club in Foxrock.

These are significant clubs but there are challenges too. I know many Senators who come from rural Ireland have spoken about the challenges in rural Ireland. Equally, as the GAA president will know well, I imagine, there are challenges for clubs in built-up urban areas. These clubs are trying to field hundreds of teams and simply do not have the space for it. Mr. Horan knows about that challenge. When I was a member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council we tried to increases pitches, put in all-weather pitches and increase allocations, but it is a major challenge for the clubs.

Together with Senator McFadden, Senator Burke and some others I visited Australia recently and we met members of a club in Melbourne. They were so appreciative. I learned on the visit that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is involved and gives funding. That is most welcome but anything that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade can do to expand on that funding would be welcome because it is a real lifeline for anyone who is abroad. A friend of mine from Pallaskenry in west Limerick came back with his children for the all-Ireland final and was lucky to be able to find tickets to do so.

I am keen to touch on one small point. Mr. Horan and I were talking before this debate commenced. You introduced me as a south-sider, a Chathaoirligh. I had to point out that my father actually went to school in St. Vincent's in Glasnevin, where the GAA president ultimately went on to teach and become the principal. I am now starting my sixth term on school boards of management, including my fourth as chairperson in two different schools where the GAA president has taught and is principal. The workload that goes into being a school principal in any secondary school in the country is extraordinary. I do not doubt that Mr. Horan's school had a significant workload. For him to be able to do all of that as well as be involved in the GAA, not to mention becoming president in a landslide victory as a Dublin person, is testament to his character and that of his family. Perhaps as a Dublin person and as the chairperson of a school board, I appreciate that more than some others. The workload involved is phenomenal. For Mr. Horan to give up of his free time, of which I imagine he did not have much, and to do all he does for the GAA and the people of Ireland in every corner of the country, including all 32 counties, I thank him very much.