Local government funding and World Cup armband
Senator Buttimer called for a debate on local government funding, then congratulated Governor Maura Healey and later praised Harry Kane’s decision to wear the One Love armband at the World Cup. Senator Gavan interjected supportively on both occasions.
I join Senator Boyhan in wishing members of LAMA every success in their two-day deliberation. In the context of the body politic, it is important we have a debate on local government, its funding and the discrepancies in some cases between the allocation of funding to counties.
I congratulate Governor Maura Healey, the first lesbian woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts last night. She is an extraordinary person who will be a wonderful governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its people. I wish her every success as she takes up the role in January. It is a wonderful day for those of us in the LGBT community to have such a wonderful voice and leader elected in the corner office in Boston Common.
As I did yesterday, I join Senator Hoey in asking to have the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media come to the House to discuss the awarding of sporting events like the World Cup and the Rugby World Cup. I hope we would all agree that the Qatar World Cup is tainted by the bidding process and the completely awful language used around members of the LGBT community. Whatever your viewpoints, the language, which I will not repeat in the Chamber, used by ambassadors of the World Cup and members of the regime in Qatar, is wholly unacceptable, as is the lack of response of any shape by FIFA.
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I am not advocating that people should not watch the World Cup; I will watch it. I know Senators Gavan and Clonan are sports people and they will probably be watching it as well.
The following might be a discordant note but I congratulate Harry Kane, who will wear the One Love armband. That should be a clarion call to all teams to wear the One Love armband because that sends a message into millions of homes around the world that we stand for love, inclusivity and diversity.
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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is leading the way again.