The message from Donegal is, "Watch out, Kerry, we are coming back."

From time to time, Members on both sides of the House rightly praise the reputation of the Irish abroad. I am sorry to bring before the House today the very sad tale from San Francisco where a bunch of Irish students went on the rampage in a house they were renting over the summer period and completely destroyed it. According to social media, it seems that up to 50 students stayed in this house at one stage. The house was rented initially to a group of students, one of whom has been named on social media websites as a Trinity College student because an arrest warrant was left behind in the house which has been used to identify him. The group of students had travelled to San Francisco under the J1 visa scheme but could not find the accommodation they had been assigned. The lady in question is an immigrant from India who as a matter of kindness gave them the house.

By way of thanks they smashed every door and window in the house. They used a golf club to smash the walls and they left the place in a mess. I commend the Irish community in San Francisco who have risen to this outrageous attack on the Irish reputation, not only in this country but among the Irish in San Francisco. Many people in the construction industry in San Francisco have pledged to restore the house to its former glory for this lady. Sadly, the story reached national prominence in the United States in recent days in that it was featured on CBS News, which went into the house and filmed the damage and destruction caused by the people concerned. I raise this today because it is a blight on the Irish reputation abroad. I ask the college authorities, who are involved to some degree with the J1 visas, and the parents of these children to remember that when they go abroad they are wearing the green jersey and that everything they do is being observed. We have heard stories coming from Australia of drunken Irish, who are a minority, but it highlights the enormous reputational damage that is done to this country. Irish Ministers go abroad regularly to try to support Ireland abroad. They support Irish communities abroad by their presence and constantly strive to bring jobs to this country, but we should consider the horrendous damage done to the Irish reputation because of what this bunch of loutish students did, who felt that because they were in a strange country, in a house that was not theirs, they could trash it and come home with no recrimination. I hope they are found, that they are named and shamed and that their families will now talk to them and insist that they be more considerate in their actions the next time they go abroad.