Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last night, I felt so much pride as an Irish woman and as a mother of two girls to see Ireland's women's football team reach their first ever world cup. It was touching that a Donegal woman scored the goal. It came against the backdrop of one of the most traumatic weeks that we have experienced in a long time. We saw the PSNI and Garda working side by side in Donegal, we saw emergency services from the North and South working side by side and we saw politicians standing shoulder to shoulder. It is devastating that, 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, the girls would want to chant what they chanted. For such a moment of pride and joy for the entire nation to cause hurt and division is a pity and a disappointment to us all. After 12 July, I stated in the House that there should be zero tolerance of sectarianism. I am saying the same thing now. The Seanad is considering the constitutional future of the island and we are speaking about a shared island, potentially with shared sports teams, so to hear chants like that sets us back. I feel I need to say that, after such a momentous occasion, what happened has left us with a heavy moment and it needs to be reflected on.