Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have seen athletes from the North of Ireland represent Ireland with great pride and passion at every Olympic Games. However, few would know that with regard to sportspeople engaged in athletics - I am talking about running, jumping, throwing and walking - those from the North who have flown the flag for Ireland at the Olympics are barred from representing Ireland at European and world athletic competitions due to a 1938 ruling. That means that people from Cullaville, Drumintee or Newry, only a couple of miles from my house, would not be able to compete for and represent Ireland, particularly runners and others. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, Deputy Thomas Byrne, fully support the scrapping of this 1938 rule. This is an issue that Friends of Irish Athletics has been campaigning on for many years. What has the Government done to deliver this important rule change and what will it do to ensure a derogation for the island of Ireland is achieved in order to ensure a quality of participation for all-Ireland athletics?

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