Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I cannot leave out Cavan, I know lots of people there. Can I remind everybody of what Dr. Tony Holohan, a man who we all respect even though we might not always fully agree with him, said yesterday evening. He said that the virus is out of control in the Twenty-six Counties. He is a medical man, whether we like what he says or not, and it is outrageous and unacceptable that we could not ask the GAA and the Government to ensure those matches are postponed for a couple of weeks. I am not talking about abandoning them. We may look back with regret on this weekend in the weeks ahead. It is perhaps not the bravest thing to say because there is division in society on this matter but, really and truly, politicians on all sides have to be brave here, show leadership and say things that may be unpopular. I appeal to everybody, even at this late stage, to postpone those matches for two or three weeks until we get control of the virus. The same should apply to League of Ireland matches and the Italian rugby team should not be coming here in a couple of weeks' time. All those games should be abandoned for now.