Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply. He is 100% right. All the public representatives of County Kildare, particularly those of south Kildare, have continued to raise the importance of the Curragh Plains to everybody in County Kildare. I welcome the fact that a positive meeting took place on 17 June at the Curragh, because when anybody visits the Curragh - we will have thousands of very welcome visitors to the Irish Derby Festival this weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - they go away with a sense of a place that is truly unique in many ways. It is unique in the fact that we can have sporting clubs, as I mentioned, that people can go walking, and that a person can bring pets, etc. There are sports clubs on the edge of it, and it is the home of the Defence Forces and, in the main, to the Irish racing industry. We cannot continue to see the destruction of the Curragh of Kildare and the Department of Defence paying €158,000 year on year to those who do not covet this great asset that we have in County Kildare. Imagine what we could do and what the Department could do with some of the dereliction I mentioned before, with the Curragh camp, if it could spend €158,000 a year on the Curragh rather than having to spend it on the cleanup of illegal encampment.
I hope the Minister of State will bring back my concerns, and I know he will, to the Minister for Defence. I have directly engaged with her on the Curragh, as he said, over many years, and with previous Ministers as well. All we want is to see the Curragh have its rightful place as one of the most important places in the whole country, not just in County Kildare. It is a unique place and everybody is welcome as long as they obey and leave no trace behind them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23