Why is the red carpet being rolled out for the NFL in this State this weekend? Why is every second level school in the State being supplied with an American football starter pack and flag for a sport steeped in militarism, racism and macho culture? Why has the Irish Government agreed to fork out €10 million to allow the richest sports league in the world to play a game in Croke Park? This is for NFL owners, by the way, who are collectively worth almost $1 trillion.

This is the most jingoistic league in America. It celebrates the military at its games, has men and women marching in uniform, it prays for the Israeli army and it sends players over to the IDF while a genocide is taking place. It has received money from the US army to do so. The Government will say that this will generate a huge amount of income in the future but at what cost? The NFL is removing “end racism” signs from its grounds. It ended Colin Kaepernick’s career for taking the knee and it has multiple lawsuits for gender, race and age discrimination.

The Deputy to conclude.

The NFL is a model for how sport has been hijacked for propaganda and profit and playing on grounds that are meant to be amateur and a community space. It is an absolutely rotten sport to be promoted in this country.

It is because sport brings people together. Because in the world we are in at the moment, where there are so many things that can bring people apart and so many things that are capable of dividing us, sport and culture are one of the few common grounds we have by which we can unite people and bring them together in a way that respects athletic endeavour and joins people together in admiring what goes on on the sporting pitch.

We have our own sports.

That is the reason we are doing it. This weekend will see our country and our city, in particular, full of American people who are coming to Ireland for the opportunity to see a game happen. I think that is a good thing. It will lead to extensive economic benefits for Ireland, that will happen, but for me there is a broader reason we do it. With all the causes we have at the moment that are pulling us apart and all the tensions there at the moment, sport and art offer the ability to bring people together. The money that is being used by the Government to support this is money that will be well spent.

And so the Minister ignores all the issues I have raised about racism, militarism and Palestine then.