Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I congratulate all those who stood and have been elected and wish all the best to our colleagues in this House. I am conscious that in the naming, Senator Blaney's name was omitted from the list of Senators. As we know, he was part of the strong unified Fianna Fáil team that ran in the Midlands-North-West constituency over the last few days.

I will focus on races of a different kind. I am sure the Leader and everyone in the House will join with me in congratulating Athletics Ireland and the wonderful performance by our athletes at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. There were extraordinary performances by Ciara Mageean, who won gold in the women's 1,500 m race and Rhasidat Adeleke, who won silver in the 400 m race. Rhasidat Adeleke, together with Christopher O'Donnell, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley then managed to win gold for Ireland in the inaugural 4 x 400 m mixed relay team and we are seeing that yet again, the women's 4 x 400 m relay team has now qualified for the final. This is an extraordinary period for Irish athletics. I congratulate all those athletes and not only those who are medal winners, but also those who achieved extraordinary performances so far. It bodes well for Paris later this summer, during the Olympics. A lot of credit is due to Athletics Ireland and all the clubs who support those athletes and the inspiration they provide to other athletes. I hope we will have a debate in this House with the Minister for sport at some stage. The record levels of investment are welcome, including the sports capital grant scheme and the announcement of the large scale sporting infrastructure fund. We need to celebrate those achievements and look to build on them further to encourage our athletes of the future.