Football: Statements Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15 ============================================================ Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal I start by acknowledging and thanking Deputy Duncan Smith for requesting these statements. We have seen three and a half hours of statements and a really good, positive debate. The spirit in which the contributions have been made stand in very stark contrast to many of the other debates we have on the floor of the House. That reflects the fact that sport and football in particular brings out the best in everyone and brings people together. We have seen that here today. Through many of the contributions from TDs across the House we have also seen the impact that taking part in sport has had on their lives. It has played such a fond part in their lives and has had a positive impact. One of the contributions that struck me most was that of Deputy Farrelly. He outlined the role he has played with other people in his community, working with a group of young people from the age of seven years old right through as they grew up, in the capacity of coaching them. He spoke not only about the impact it made on him and the people who coached them, but on those kids from a sporting point of view, and also the opportunity it provided for those kids to grow and have leadership provided through sport and the positive impact on their lives. That was my experience as well as I grew up. Like everyone here, I am grateful to the people who played and contributed over the years through volunteering their time to giving me an opportunity in sport. I think back to my time at Scoil Naomh Buadáin and the work that Brian Harris, for example, would have done, giving his time as I played underage with Culdaff Football Club. I think of the role Hugh Diver played and the great example of volunteers. I think back to how football brought together our local community and parish. While we might have had European Championships and World Cups as tournaments which everyone followed, the most important tournament in our parish every year was the parish cup, where each townland would have put in teams. That seven-a-side competition was the highlight of the summer season. The local town land of Cashel even managed to put in two teams, Cashel A and Cashel B. I was glad to be able to make the Cashel B team, which was the highlight of my football career. That tournament was played on a pitch which had a slant on it in Glenealy. There were no dressing rooms at that stage but there was great participation and enjoyment. As an example of how we have seen football grow and develop over that period of time, this past Saturday in Glenview Park, which is now the football pitch in Glenealy and which does have a dressing room and a clubhouse, the under-16 girls won the SFAI under-16 semi-final against Granada, a team from Dublin, in a 1-0 victory, getting to the SFAI under-16 cup final. That speaks not only to the development of the facilities but also the wonderful journey we have seen in relation to female participation and how that has significantly grown and continues to grow in a really exciting way. It also speaks to the fact that we are on a journey that continues, and one that we as public representatives and particularly as a Government must make sure we are supporting ever more strongly, because while our clubs are very much based on the commitment and dedication of volunteers who make such an impact on the lives of those they support and train and the communities in which they are involved, it is really important that we, from a Government and State point of view, support that through investment in facilities and equipment. We have seen a very significant increase in investment in facilities over the years and decades, and we see it in our local communities. That is something we have continued to prioritise and develop very strongly in recent years. A few contributors outlined how over the past six years, in the previous three rounds of sports capital, that six years ago we invested €70 million in the community sports facilities round, four years ago it was €170 million and in the most recent round in 2024, it was €270 million, seeing more than 3,000 clubs and projects being supported through grants. That is something we now need to continue, and we will continue through the community sports facilities fund which we will be launching this year. That is something that can make a real impact and continue the journey that we are seeing at grassroots level in terms of providing the facilities and supporting the work of volunteers. We all know there is pressure because the increase in participation we are seeing across all sports and indeed, in relation to football, is putting pressure on facilities. Where we build those extra facilities, they will be used. They will not be idle; they are very much needed. I very much take the feedback from many across the floor tonight on the importance of all-weather surfaces and prioritising them within the community sports facilities fund. The past three and a half hours, and I have listened very carefully to everyone, has been a really good opportunity to get a sense from people who are very much involved in their local communities and clubs of what the key priorities are, and how best we as a Government can work to support their needs through Government investment. We are seeing a renaissance and real momentum behind football within the country. We have all spoken about how that has been very much led by, and the great energy we get from, our national teams and the escapades and achievements recently. We are also seeing that come through in the League of Ireland, and that is something we want to support and underpin and which we are underpinning through the development and investment we are putting into the academies. That is something we are seeing real progress in over the course of this year. It is something we want to continue to invest in and develop, because it is going to give our young people the capacity to be able to be the best and develop into the best players they can be, and also to see our national league be very much strengthened through those players coming through. A really good development and something we look to support is the development of a third tier in the League of Ireland. I am glad to see three clubs from my own county, Cockhill Celtic in Buncrana and Letterkenny Rovers and Bonagee United in Letterkenny, two in Letterkenny, being among the 15 nationally. Many Deputies mentioned their own clubs which are going to be part of that third tier as well. It is an opportunity to see our league grow. It is all going to be underpinned by us working collectively to support the work at grassroots level and to make sure everyone at local level has that opportunity to participate in sport. I assure Deputies I look forward to working with all of them here in relation to the next community sports facilities fund, which will be opening this summer and which we hope to have concluded by the end of this year to work to support clubs throughout the country in football, but also through all sports. We all appreciate the value of sport of all types in our lives, and wish to support that through that fund over the course of the year ahead. I thank all of the Deputies for taking time to participate in this debate. The fact it has been three and a half hours and so many have contributed shows the importance of sport to our national Parliament. This has been a very worthwhile and valuable use of our national Parliament's time. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle and everyone in the House for their contributions and their work in communities to support clubs within their respective constituencies. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-15