Dundalk TD raises in Dail need for better facilities to grow soccer

Better facilities are needed in order to grow soccer in the State to the levels that it needs to be at, Sinn Féin’s Ruairí Ó Murchú has told the Dáil during a debate about funding for football.

The motion, tabled by the Labour Party, received cross party support on the last sitting day before the recess.

During his contribution, Deputy Ó Murchú confessed to playing "badly" at a regular seven-a-side game at the Gaels facilities in Dundalk.

He said: "On some level there is agreement across the board.

"We welcome the work the FAI has done.

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"We know we need facilities from top to bottom. My county has two teams.

"There is Drogheda United and there is also Dundalk FC, which I wish the best in its game against the Magpies in Gibraltar on Thursday.

"I hope we can have an element of a European run but who knows.

"Oriel Park, United Park and many other grounds are not up to the standard they need to be, if we want soccer to be the industry it could be.

"There is a need to address the issues that have arisen for players since Brexit.

"It has created difficulties in the context of making it with teams in England.

"We need to put all those pieces together.

"There is real interest and the numbers are up with League of Ireland, but, even in terms of sustainability or getting television stations interested, it has to be about facilities.

"We need local authorities, the large scale sport infrastructure fund and sports capital grants to be considered.

"An across-the board solution is needed. The likes of Woodview Celtic in Dundalk do not have grounds."

Speaking afterwards, Deputy Ó Murchú said: "Facilities, such as those available in League of Ireland, matter.

"Stadia in the league are really important, and so are the facilities that are needed for underage teams to feed players into the League of Ireland as well as the benefit that comes from just playing football for fun.

"There have been huge strides in getting more girls to play soccer and the Louth School Girls’ League has been instrumental in that.

"There are huge numbers of girls and boys soccer teams, some with good facilities, some without and some doing extraordinary work with the clippings of tin.

"There needs to be a conversation between all the stakeholders, including the Department of Sport and local authorities, about how we move forward and secure the future of soccer."