Sports Events
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29
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Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel

I thank the Minister of State. The Government is trying to defend the indefensible. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, lost the plot a few weeks ago when a few idiots threw flares onto a pitch. He threatened every organisation and he was going to ban footballers and football teams, yet he has no issue playing Israel which is committing genocide and has killed 565 Palestinian footballers. He has no issue with that, but at the same time there have been no answers. When visiting team supporters, management and players come here, what security screening will be in place to ensure that if somebody has been active in genocide they are held to account? The Government are like spineless ostriches with their heads stuck in the ground, not willing to do anything to upset the Israelis or the US. There needs to be security screening. That is the very minimum the Government should do.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-29