Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the uachtarán, his wife Barbara, children Conor and Shane and the rest of his family. I welcome also the GAA officials and everyone who is here with the him. I welcome him as a proud member of Castlemitchell Gaelic Football Club in Athy, County Kildare. The Cathaoirleach has already referred to it, but it is especially pleasant to stand here today after our victory in retaining our Leinster under-20 championship against the Dubs last night. It was a particularly brilliant match. I watched it last night on TG4 and I thank the channel for its coverage of GAA. It is brilliant what it does and continues to do. I am not leaving out RTÉ, but I was here for a defence debate last night and on my way home I was able to listen to the match on my local radio station. That is the power of the GAA and the power of the coverage of it. I thank all the local outlets that mean I can listen to a match on my way home from Dublin, and almost crash a couple of times on my way down the carriageway, and shout and roar. Obviously, we will complete the double on Sunday as well, when Glenn Ryan leads us against the Dubs in the Leinster football semi-final. I wish him and the lads the very best.

The GAA has played an important part in my life, whether it is a father leaving the house at 6 p.m. to travel to Waterville to try to persuade somebody to come back and manage the county or my own involvement through coaching. How important the GAA is to communities has been mentioned by everybody today. It is vital that is said and we acknowledge how important it is to so many people that they have a GAA club. Long may that last.

I spoke to the uachtarán on the way in about a recent trip I had to Australia. The Cathaoirleach mentioned, as did the uachtarán, that the GAA is a worldwide organisation and it is only when you walk through an airport in Sydney, as I did, and see the GAA bags and tops that it is brought home to you how powerful the GAA is. It is such an important issue. Of course, Kildare GAA shorts are now a fashion item, thanks to our own Paul Mescal.