Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern on his answer to a question from an Member of Parliament in the House of Commons yesterday about Ireland rejoining the Commonwealth. His answer was appropriate, but the question had been put in jest by a Scottish SNP member and was not meant as a real question, although some Conservative and other MPs might be more serious about Ireland rejoining the Commonwealth.

On the subject of football, Declan Rice has made the decision not to play for the Republic of Ireland but for England instead. I have noticed huge criticism of him online, but he is a young man. He has played for Ireland but says he has mixed nationalities. He said he was a proud Englishman but that he was also proud of his Irish heritage and roots and that he had an affinity with Ireland. I am disappointed that he is not going to play for the Republic of Ireland, but I wish him well in whatever he does because I remember the 1980s when soccer was a minority sport and no more than 10,000 or 15,000 attended matches at Lansdowne Road. The vast majority of supporters between 1980 and the late 1980s when we beat England came from the London Irish supporters' club. They came by boat in their thousands and were the sons and daughters of Irish navvies and other men and women who had moved to England. They were proud to be Irish. Being Irish is not just about living on the island of Ireland; it is also about the diaspora. I do not believe Declan Rice should come in for criticism.