Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join the call to have the new Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Jack Chambers. I congratulate him on his appointment as Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach. Sport rarely gets a hearing in these Houses but we had two notable appointments yesterday. One was the appointment of the Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the other, which I want to welcome, was the appointment of the new SSE Airtricity League director, Mark Scanlon. For those who love sport and for those who love soccer in particular, the appointment of a new director for our domestic league is a significant step, given both the turmoil that the FAI has been engulfed in over the past 18 months and the uncertainty about the resumption of the domestic league at the end of this month. As Senator Boyhan stated, when we reflect on the outpouring of grief following the passing of Jack Charlton last weekend, it brings to mind that in the aftermath of Italia 90, there was a huge surge in support for the domestic game and attendances at domestic league games increased. It dissipated quickly afterwards, however.

Sport is only really discussed in these Houses when an athlete achieves notable success on the field of play or, unfortunately, when there is controversy, as we saw in the committee rooms last year in the case of the FAI. We had two young men appointed to significant roles yesterday. Mark Scanlon is a Meath man like myself and I have worked with him over the past 15 years when he was a development officer in Meath. He has done great work there. We can all celebrate the big days but we need to develop a better relationship between the State and, in this instance, the governing body of the domestic game. If we do not have a strong domestic league, all the hoopla and the superfluous matter of the international team negate and do not address the substantial issue. The SSE Airtricity League has been dying and it needs real support. I call on the Leader to support those calls for the relevant Minister to come here so we can discuss that.