Sports Organisations
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I absolutely agree with the Deputy that it has been fantastic to see people of all ages and families coming to League of Ireland matches and the growth both in Premier Division and First Division attendances, and indeed, as well as the introduction of a new third tier to the League of Ireland, which will happen imminently. That is something that we want to see encouraged. It is down to the quality of the product on the pitch as well. One of the side effects of Brexit has been that we are seeing our young players staying in the country. It is about the only benefit of Brexit that I can think of. Of course, there is a responsibility on all of us as result to make sure that the pathways are put in place for those young players not only to be able to play within League of Ireland clubs until they are 18 years of age, but also to be supported to be able to become the best players they possibly can and to reach the highest level that they can in that process. That is why the Government on budget day is giving a vote of confidence to Irish football through the investment of €3 million in academies.
We must all collectively make sure that it is a safe environment. The Deputy is absolutely right. People will stop going to matches unless this is stamped out. That is our objective here. We want to support football. We want to support the continuing growth of the League of Ireland. We want to support our clubs. We want to ensure that it is a safe environment. We will work with the clubs and FAI as a national governing body to make sure that a satisfactory way forward is achieved that will deliver on that and will ensure the wonderful momentum that we have seen in Irish football and the League of Ireland is continued for the rest of this year, and indeed, into the years ahead.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24