Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to remember and pay tribute to Seán Keane of The Chieftains who passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. Seán was a dedicated and very talented musician. He was ground-breaking in what he did. His wife, who predeceased him by a couple of years, was from Ennistymon where I am from and Seán visited the town many times. As recently as six months ago, he took part in a concert there. His talent and his commitment to culture and tradition in this country will be remembered for generations to come.

I agree with Senator Dooley on the issue of GAAGO. Like the Cathaoirleach, I have attended GAA matches for many years. For the last five or six weeks, I have been at a match every weekend. We have attended brilliant, classic matches. I pay tribute to all the volunteers and players who make the GAA what it is. I am lucky in that I am in a position to be able to go to matches. However, there are many elderly people in west and north Clare who went to matches for many years but, unfortunately, are not in a position to go now. They are also not IT savvy and sadly the broadband in many parts of Clare is not what it should be. Therefore, even though these people are quite happy to pay for this GAAGO thing, they are not in a position to do so because they do not understand the technology and even if they did, the broadband is not up to standard. I do not understand why there cannot be a channel on television - channel 6 or whatever - where, if the GAA feels it is necessary to charge, old people could go on the remote control and put in their card details. GAAGO is cumbersome and unfair and it creates inaccessibility. That is not what the GAA is all about. At its core, the GAA is all about equality, access, enjoyment and volunteerism. Those responsible have got it wrong with this GAAGO. I can understand what they were trying to achieve but when thousands of people are deprived of access to classic games like we have had in the last few weeks, it is simply wrong.