I wish to raise an issue that has been on the airwaves in recent days, namely, GAAGO and the arrangement between the GAA and RTÉ that sets up a paywall for genuine fans. This weekend it was fans of hurling in a match between Limerick and the Cathaoirleach’s county of Cork. I listened with some interest to what the president of the GAA had to say yesterday. I was taken by his robustness, which at times veered into arrogance and certainly did not reflect the views of the genuine GAA volunteers who I know and deal with every day of the week. It may have just been the studio environment or the way the interview went, but he seemed to get quite political in response to the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. I get that, but he also sounded like a Sinn Féin Opposition spokesperson in the Dáil saying that raising the issue was perhaps a hot political debate because there was a politician-----

Senator Dooley is a long-standing Member of the House. The uachtarán of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael is not here to defend himself-----

I accept that. I am just making an observation. I understand he has been invited by Senator Lombard to appear before a committee. I hope he avails of that opportunity to discuss the matter. I have great regard for him. He has great abilities and a great vision. He did not so much as have a pop at the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, but at the people they were representing and whose views they were putting forward. I understand his agenda, including a strong element on investment, and I am taken by the fact he is talking about investing €500 million – that is wonderful – but he dropped something new to the debate, namely, that GAAGO was effectively aimed at raising money. I have attended committee meetings time out of number.

I questioned the GAA at the time it did the deal with Sky. It moved on from that and set up GAAGO. All of the time, the entire direction of the GAA was that it was about expanding the reach of its games, principally to the diaspora. Nothing was ever contained in those presentations about it being a revenue-generating exercise. That is new. Jarlath Burns said yesterday that he did not need to come back to the committee because it had all been addressed in the past. That is not the case. It is a new departure. I am not blaming him. The GAA is a wonderful organisation. It is doing amazing work that is mainly built on a foundation of volunteerism. I could quote numerous people who have been greatly upset by the way in which this has developed, both in the past and in recent days. I totally accept that GAAGO has a place and that there are games which would not be seen elsewhere if it was not there.

We should have a debate in the House. I appeal to the president of the GAA to come with us, as previous presidents did. Give us an opportunity to have a frank and open discussion.

I call Senator Joe O'Reilly.

No.

Apologies, I should have called Senator Clonan.

I again want to raise the issue of conflict. I have been involved in the conflict space for 35 years. I have never seen Europe so destabilised as it is now. We have an attack by approximately 35,000 Russian troops in the area of Kharkiv. I fear for a break out on the eastern front. These are effects that will be felt from Kharkiv right across to Lysychansk to the banks of the Grand Canal. It impacts us.

More compellingly, or equally as compelling, we have entered day 220 of the conflict in Gaza and Rafah. Yesterday, the World Health Organization and Human Rights Watch confirmed 25,000 dead in Gaza. They have fully confirmed their identities. That is an extraordinary rate of killing over the past 220 days. It is 113 people being slaughtered every day 24-7, seven days a week. Of this number, 7,797 children have been identified as being killed in the conflict thus far. That is 36 children every day, which is more than one an hour; it is three children every two hours. Since I came into my office this morning, to use these appalling calculations, nine children have been butchered. This has been happening on a 24-7 basis for 220 days thus far. We have also had 4,959 women killed in indiscriminate air strikes and direct fire attacks. That is an extraordinary rate of killing. If this is not genocide, we are certainly witnessing infanticide and femicide on a disinhibited basis.

We need to talk about our relationship with the United States in regard to all of this. We need to talk about Shannon Airport. We need to talk about the onward passage of weapons and ammunition through that airport, which is a large logistics hub for the US military. There is also the overflight of aircraft. Hundreds of US military aircraft are passing through our airspace carrying weapons for Israel. They are exempt from any en route air traffic control charges, which are then passed on to the taxpayer and paid by the Department of Transport to the Irish Aviation Authority. We, as taxpayers in a neutral state, are making a material financial contribution to the butchery and slaughter in Gaza. I welcome tomorrow's debate on the Civic Engagement Group's Private Members' Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024. When we take into account the numbers of missing men, women and children, and the unconfirmed identities of those murdered and maimed, we can see that this is a mass murder and mass disabling event. As a nation, we have to stand up to our partners as well as those we criticise in order to question their involvement in this.

When I thought the Cathaoirleach was going to call me out of turn earlier, it brought to mind a story involving an illustrious former member of Cavan Urban District Council.

One day when he was called early he stood up and said "I don't remember what I got up to say but I'll keep talking until I think of it". I do not intend to use that approach. As the immigration debate goes on and people encounter this issue on the canvass, it might be no harm to reassert what this debate is not about. It is not about the 80% of economic migrants who come to this country and who are needed for health services where they make up about one in three workers and where it is projected that about 50% of health service personnel will be migrants - new Irish - in a very short period of time. It is not about the people who are needed in hospitality. Restaurants and bars in my area are closed a couple of days a week because they cannot get staff. It is not about the people in intensive agriculture, which is vital, so let us get this straight. It is worth saying because there is a lot of confusion about this. We need a minimum of 80% of our migrants.

When we are talking about the problematic situation, we are talking about a minority of the remaining 20%. Of the remaining 20%, a considerable number are here because of genuine war-torn situations - because they are escaping grave danger - and we have an international obligation to them. It is worth mentioning the initiatives that are being taken because they are necessary. We are speeding up processing time. That should happen. I believe the whole concept of people being in direct provision long term is crazy. People should be processed and if they are eligible, they should be absorbed into the country and the workforce where there is a crying need for them immediately. I come through the airport very rarely but I did so recently. Coming through the airport, I noticed that three or four people were being apprehended in the tunnel coming out to arrivals. There is a big stepping up of security there. Algeria has been taken off the special list of countries. We are tackling the small minority, and a small minority it is, but let us get it straight. We need the 80%. This country would cease to function without them. Of the remaining 20%, it is reasonable to say that about 14% are here because of genuine suffering and at great risk to their lives. We are talking about a very small number of people so let us get a sense of perspective on this debate. Having said that, the initiatives are necessary.

Over the past eight days, we have seen a number of attacks and attempted attacks on candidates and councillors since the posters went up. I think the most shocking incident was in the early hours of last Wednesday morning when Councillor Tania Doyle and her husband were violently attacked. It is a sheer miracle that they did not sustain life-changing injuries or worse. This is a councillor who has worked so hard to foster integration, tolerance and community participation in her community yet this happened.

There is a poison out there in many of our communities and it is right across the board. It is in households that have nothing and in households that have a lot. It is in disadvantaged households and communities and in very comfortable communities and it is manifesting in random racist and homophobic attacks, in the hatred being spewed online and more recently on our candidates.

All of us here have a responsibility to call out that poison in our communities because my very real fear is that it is not going to be kicks to the body or cuts to the head. Somebody is going to lose his or her life. Regarding this poison within our communities, we all need to reflect on our conduct in this House and the other House and how we carry ourselves because it is a poison being stirred by people in this Chamber talking about higher crime rates among migrants when that is a nonsense.

We have a poison which is being stirred by some parties who give credence to the delusion that Ireland has no space for refugees seeking protection. There are many derelict and vacant buildings across this country which could be used but there is a lack of political will to do so. In particular - I do not want to get into personalising this - I am looking at Fianna Fáil today. To be honest, all of the talk about a shared island is a bit rich when we have TDs calling for gardaí at the Border. Thankfully, the Tánaiste dispelled that. More recently, the party's justice spokesperson said that Northern Ireland could be classified as a safe state. If we are serious about an all-island agenda and about a shared island, those comments do not feed into that.

Finally, on a much brighter note, I am thrilled to see that a 250-year lease has been agreed between the owners of Tolka Park and Dublin City Council. It is a victory for the grassroots supporters of Shelbourne Football Club and for football but it was nearly not the case. This is my last point. The reality is that we have a lack of support for soccer in this country. Tolka Park stadium nearly had to be sold to fund the development of Dalymount Park. Sense prevailed, thankfully, but we need to ensure that grassroots football and League of Ireland football is supported in this country.

Today, as we approach the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, my colleagues in the other House will bring forward a motion on those bombings. Much cross-party support has been indicated to us in advance of the motion and, indeed, in advance of previous motions in 2008, 2011 and 2016, all of which were unanimously adopted. Despite that, however, the unfortunate fact remains that to date no progress has been made in the search for truth and justice. Any progress which has been made has been largely due to the tenacious work of the victims' families and Justice for the Forgotten. The British Government has never been upfront or honest about the role that its intelligence services played in the conflict and, specifically, has refused to co-operate regarding the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. This is despite the efforts of Mr. Justice Henry Barron who conducted an inquiry into the atrocities and whose report, when considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, prompted that all-party committee to conclude that we were dealing with acts of international terrorism in which British security forces colluded. Everyone is entitled to truth and justice but the callous and cynical so-called legacy Bill in London, recently passed by Westminster, jeopardises that. The Taoiseach and the Irish Government should and must use every diplomatic tool at their disposal to encourage British co-operation at the United Nations, at various international forums and within the international media.

I want to touch briefly on Europe Day. I know that there were statements on Europe Day last week but I was in Moldova representing this Parliament as the convener of the Ireland-Moldova Parliamentary Friendship Group at an event which that country was holding for all of the various conveners of friendship groups across the EU. We remember hearing about what Ireland was like before we joined the EU. The EU has been a huge benefit to us, as the Leader knows through her work with the Council of Europe. EU membership has been beneficial for all member states, particularly those countries which came in the big wave we celebrated recently which happened 20 years ago, along with Romania, Bulgaria, and, ultimately, Croatia after that.

As a Parliament, we need to send a message to countries like Ukraine, which Senator Clonan has referred to in the context of what is going on there, and, in particular, Moldova and Georgia. I know that Georgia has its own challenges at the moment. The message we must send is that we are very interested in, we welcome and we support Moldova joining the EU because it is vulnerable to Russian influence and aggression in terms of cybercrime and in terms of Russia's presence in part of its country, in Transnistria. It is very important that as a Parliament, we send a message of support to Moldova., which has agreed to have a referendum in October to let the public have its say on joining the EU. It is a candidate country and I would support it joining the EU.

In my last few seconds, I make the point that we had an event at lunchtime with Senator Sherlock and others in support of national bike week. Almost every bike on the road is taking a car off the road. Motorists, of which I am one, need to remember the benefits of bikes are not just the health, fitness and efficiency of cyclists; they also serve to reduce congestion for those who are not able to use bikes. I encourage everyone, particularly in weather like this, to use a bike if they can.

Following on from an issue I raised last Thursday, namely, GAAGO and the controversy regarding how games are being aired on this platform, we had a unique spectacle of hurling in Cork last Saturday night at which the Cathaoirleach, too, was in attendance. We saw Cork win on the last puck of a ball. Unfortunately, however, the majority of people did not have the opportunity to see it. Some 42,000 people were there, and in a few years’ time probably 100,000 people will claim they were there because it was such a unique affair. We need to see movement here. The comments from the president of the GAA in the past few days have been quite disappointing.

The president is not here to defend himself.

Indeed. However, it is important that we have a debate about what will happen in respect of our national game and national sports and how we can progress it. The issue here is about trying to get this game accessible to as many people as we possibly can. I am talking about school kids. I heard a story today where only five of 29 kids in a school class saw the game, but the majority play it. The problem is that a paywall has been put in place. This is a serious issue for many of us. It is important we have a debate on it. As I stated last Thursday, I still believe that the president of the GAA should come before this House to discuss this issue, and I think that invitation should still go to him. It would then be up to him to refuse it. This is a huge issue for many in society. We cannot have this issue whereby, unfortunately, a paywall has been put in place and people cannot see the games or access our national sport. This is beyond politics. I refute the comment that this is about electioneering. This is anything but that; this is beyond politics.

To clarify, the request for an invitation to uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael was made in the name of Senator Gallagher. It is before the CPPO. I wish to inform Members that this is not a committee room; this is the Chamber of Seanad Éireann. If the uachtarán or any guest is asked to address the Seanad, it is not in an adversarial way. It is an honour to be asked to address the Seanad. I wish to clarify that for Members. It is not a committee room and therefore there is no back and forth.