Barry Ward: Local Football Holds Our Communities Together
Barry Ward speaks on the floor about the vital role of local football clubs in Dún Laoghaire outlining their contribution to youth development, community life and the growing recognition of women's sport. He cites clubs such as St Joseph's AFC, Granada FC, D.E.K. United and others, and notes international links and recent national team results, including the disappointment in Czechia.
Local clubs and community: Barry Ward highlights the many grassroots clubs in his area and describes how volunteers, coaches and players create networks of support. He praises St Joseph's AFC in Sally Noggin, Granada FC in Black Rock, D.E.K. United and a host of other teams for their everyday contribution to neighbourhood life.
Youth development and international links: Ward details how local clubs feed young players into higher levels of the game and create opportunities beyond Ireland. He points to Granada FC's friendship agreement with Vincennes and the annual junior trips to France as examples of how sport builds bridges across borders.
Women's sport and atmosphere: The speaker underlines the growth in both participation and recognition of women's football, noting a stronger family atmosphere and fierce competition at women's club matches. He argues public understanding of women's sport has improved markedly in recent years.
Volunteers and long-term value: Barry Ward stresses that no amount of money can replace the commitment of volunteers who give their time, effort and expertise. He calls attention to the clubs' broader social value-teamwork, sportsmanship and community cohesion-and why they deserve ongoing support.
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Go raibh maith agat, Cathaoirle. Can I join with other members who've talked about the value of football, what it does for communities, what it does for the nation, and congratulations to both our men's and women's teams for their successes on the one hand and their disappointments on the other, but their effort in both cases, and beg ló Ella, and I think we've a great foundation to build on despite the disappointment in Czechia recently. But can I talk more so about the focus of football at a local level? Coming from Dunairie, we're blessed to have a couple of, or more than a couple of, really excellent local football teams and football clubs, and I think of places like Joey's in Sally Noggin, St Joseph's AFC, which is not just the the place where I passed my vote at the general election, but also an enormous community organisation. People like Ali Crilley who are involved in running the club there, they are part and parcel of the community, providing a facility particularly for young kids and a feeder then to more serious soccer at older level. But within Sally Noggin, they are a huge outlet for kids in the area, they're a huge source of competition, but also an opportunity for them to build skills and build community and become part of teams, which is so so important. Granada FC in Black Rock, which is a portmanteau of Granville and Ardagh, which are the two housing estates either side of Newtown Park Avenue that originally put together the team, but now is I think the largest youth club in the country. They are so active, I'm privileged to have been at many of their matches, but also to praise them and the chair Kieran Kane and all the people involved in running the club have taken up opportunities that presented to them. So for example, Dunairie-Rathdown and specifically Black Rock created a friendship agreement with Vincennes, which is a suburb of Paris, and now every year a junior team from Granada will go to Vincennes and they'll play in a tournament there. They will often win and I think they surprised people a couple of years ago when they did as well as they did, but they're convenient teams from all over Europe in some instances, from all over France, from all over Paris, but that is an indication of something that soccer can use, football can use to build those bridges between people. D.E.K. United, which is another hugely important team with an interesting history, although it's named after Sutton D.E.K., which was a dairy in that area, the founder of that dairy had fought in the Battle of Tell el-Kabir in Egypt in 1882, and on the crest of the club you have the Sphinx and the year of the battle and the word Egypt, so a hugely historic name, but they were founded in 1946. Again, a hugely important club just next to Stradbrook there, and in fact Emily Bulger, my own office, plays for them as well, so we've got a great connection to D.E.K. United, but then there's also Cabin Teeley FC, there's Dorky United FC, who kind of co-locate with Kula Club, and I attended with Kula this morning as they announced a new sponsorship deal with Amgen, but both of those teams, huge community involvement, and the local area is so lucky to have so many people who give their time, effort, blood, sweat and tears to the club, as well as the players who commit so much, and then places like Ballybrack FC, Seaford Rock United, there are so many of these teams, but they contribute so much, and there is no amount of money that would actually supplant what they do for community. The value that they add for community is enormous, in terms of the networks, the camaraderie, the experience, the sportsmanship, the team building, all of these things are vital aspects of it, and if I could just really comment specifically in relation to women's involvement, because all of the clubs I've mentioned there, some of them are very strong in youth, some of them are very strong in terms of their success, and where their players go on to play, but all of them have also committed to women's sport, and one of the things that I think has really blossomed in the last few years, is not just women's sport, because it was always there, but our understanding and our recognition of women's sport, which wasn't always there, and now when you attended the club final last year in Tallaght, the feeling at a club match with women is much better than it is with men, it's a much greater family atmosphere, and the competition is more fierce.
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