Pringle calls for investment into football clubs such as St Catherine’s in Killybegs

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 12th July 2023

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has called for investment into football clubs, citing the contributions and needs of St Catherine’s in Killybegs as an example.

The deputy also welcomed confirmation from the minister that funding for the new Finn Harps stadium has been awarded.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “We need to address the lack of pitches and all-weather pitches. Clubs like St Catherine’s in Killybegs provide football for boys and girls of all ages, from Glencolmcille to Portnoo. There are far too many teams relying on just one pitch, which often gets waterlogged and closed for repairs. This also causes issues with funding, as you have many teams in the one area in search of funding from a small pool of people and businesses.

“And indeed our own club, St. Catherine’s, constantly the pitch has to be closed for repairs, which means then that they are looking for alternative pitches for the young people and it’s just not acceptable at this stage,” he said.

Deputy Pringle said: “There is no doubt that there has been underinvestment into football in this country and this, coupled with poor leadership, have made it hard for clubs and players to develop,” adding, “Despite this we have managed to produce many brilliant football players, such as Seimi Coleman from my own hometown of Killybegs.”

The deputy was speaking in support of the Labour Motion re Investment in Football.

Deputy Pringle said: “The fact that 38% of clubs are not able to offer female toilets is completely unacceptable as well. We have seen a surge of interest in the Irish team, who will compete in the Women’s World Cup this summer for the first time, which is fantastic to see, but we need to make sure that girls and women are given the appropriate facilities and opportunities to be able to develop as players in Ireland.

“Irish player Amber Barrett, another fantastic footballer from Donegal, believes that an important issue to address is the drop-off of interest in sport among teenage girls. We need to ensure full media coverage of women’s games and I would hope that the Women’s World Cup will be covered to the same extent as the men’s,” he said.

Deputy Pringle said: “I’m glad that this motion addresses some of these gender equality issues, however one issue I think it has overlooked is disability access.

“I strongly believe that we should be doing all we can to make football and other sports far more accessible for the disabled community. At the moment facilities and pitches are not suitable for those with disabilities and this is a real shame,” he said.

The deputy said far more is needed, particularly in rural communities.

Deputy Pringle said: “From looking at the ’Football for All’ clubs map, most of the midlands and north west football clubs are left out of this programme. There are only two clubs in Donegal who facilitate ‘Football for All’, Buncrana Hearts and Letterkenny Rovers, which is over 70 kilometres away from Killybegs. This leaves out the entire disability community in south west Donegal.

“Northern Ireland seems to be addressing the needs of their disabled community far better through their Disability Football Development Strategy, and maybe this is one of the many reasons why we should be pushing for an all-island league, where we can learn from what they are doing. We need to ensure better opportunities for our rural and disabled communities and I would urge the government to consider this further in the future,” he said.