Sport and Recreational Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Ryan O'Meara (FF), Tipperary North

A lot of the local clubs I have spoken to are very interested in getting more supports, more funding and more training for their coaches. I think about cases where a child in a family is involved in sport, for example, a soccer club, and there is also a child in the family with some form of disability. If the parents in that family are involved in the club, they will obviously want both of their children, or however many children they have, to have the same chance to be full active participants to the best of their ability. Ballymackey FC, for which I played when under age, has a fantastic football for all initiative. It is absolutely brilliant. It is one of the strongest I have ever seen. It is a strong and growing club. The model of clubs like Ballymackey needs to be brought into other clubs. We need to get coaches in to get them trained to give every single child and adult, regardless of ability, the full opportunity to participate in sport.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20