Paul Donnelly: Clubs Neglected, Opposes Ireland-Israel Match
Paul Donnelly challenges the Minister on chronic underinvestment in grassroots football and condemns plans for an Ireland-Israel fixture. He outlines the scale of community football, the dire state of facilities and his determination to oppose the international match.
Funding and facility crisis: Donnelly highlights the sheer size of grassroots football - 245,000 registered players, 80,000 volunteers and dozens of clubs - and argues that clubs survive through fundraising rather than state support. He details how many grounds need refurbishment or complete rebuilds, how pitch closures have strained all-weather facilities, and how basic amenities for girls and boys are often absent.
Political and moral stakes: Donnelly stresses the wider social and economic value of football and cites an 80 million FAO infrastructure plan juxtaposed with a one-year 99.1 million allocation to greyhounds and horses. He closes by condemning the proposed Ireland-Israel game, invoking the killing of children playing football in Gaza and saying he will do his utmost to prevent the fixture going ahead.
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Minister, you'll be relieved to know that I'm not going to name all the football clubs in Dublin West because there's just too many and it shows the strength of football in our community. But they exist not because of government funding but in spite of it and most of the money that they they use in their club is through fundraising. Every cent they get they have to go through hoops to get. Some of the figures are staggering 245,000 registered players, 80,000 volunteers, 60 clubs and 100 clubs actually next year in terms of the football for all sports. Minister, as a lifelong Bohemian supporter I've visited most stadiums in Ireland and hopefully one day the United Ireland will have a United League and I'm genuinely shocked when you can talk about the growth in League of Ireland without being deeply embarrassed. Yes the growth in attendance across the League of Ireland has skyrocketed but that's in no way accredited to anything this government has done. Most grounds are in dire need of refurbishment some need to completely knock down and rebuild and only one, one in the 26 counties can hold a European match. The credit for a massive increase in interest lies solely with the clubs. Minister, you talk about the massive increase in women's and girls and it's fantastic but a lack of facilities is shocking. We have girls and boys in our public parks with zero toilet facilities. We have many clubs still using steel containers as changing rooms and club facilities. This year due to the bad weather many grass pitches were closed for months on end, putting massive pressure on the all-weather facilities. Some are lucky to have them, most are not. Beyond the national pride football also delivers a significant economic and social value. Grassroots football has shown 1.8 billion social return on investment with 17 euro 60 for every euro invested in the sport. Last year the FAO presented an 80 million plan over 11 years to build infrastructure. Think about this, greyhounds and horses got the 26 budget allocation of 99.1 million for one year. Think of the statistics I just said at the beginning. Lastly, the vast majority of people oppose the upcoming Ireland-Israel game. It's beyond comprehension that a team with members of the murderous Israeli army and I won't insult the victims of a genocide by calling them a defense force. I'll do my utmost to prevent that game from going ahead and I'll leave you with this, on the 16th of July 2014 at approximately 3.30 p.m. Israeli forces fired three missiles that killed four boys while they were playing football on Gaza City fishing beach. I will never forget that and I believe most people will never get the scenes of those four young boys playing football on that pitch and how dare this government stand here and allow that game to go ahead.
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