Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pass on my sympathies to our colleague and the Currie family on the death of Austin Currie. They can be very proud of the immense contribution he made to Irish life both North and South.

Members will be able to see the badge I am wearing to support the Irish Heart Foundation promotional month, FAST, to highlight the signs of stroke: face, arms, speech and time. It is important we recognise that. I also highlight that it is four years since the HSE was asked to produce a national stroke strategy and it has not been published yet. When will that be published?

An issue relating to Gaelic games within our diaspora in the US has come up in the media. We should be proud of how we promote our games throughout the world, and the numbers of people who play them. The GAA is a magnet to our diaspora. I lived in the US for a short while and the first thing people do is join the local GAA club. They do immense in promoting Irish culture and keeping that sense of Irishness throughout America. During 2020 a significant number of clubs did not travel to games in Boston due to Covid-19. The GAA in the US is suspending and fining clubs for not travelling more than 3,000 miles from the west coast of America to Boston to take part in games and giving them no right of appeal. I was heavily involved at national level in the GAA. It is a very democratic organisation with appeals processes for every issue, yet this does not seem to pertain to US GAA. I would ask the GAA at Croke Park level to intervene. We are very proud of keeping our culture alive and this does set a good example. People who prioritised the health of their communities by not travelling, which we also asked our citizens not to do, are now suspended.