Minister of Sport must work collaboratively with League of Ireland clubs to ensure safety instead of making knee-jerk threats to cut funding - Ruairí Ó Murchú TD
Monday 23rd February 2026, 14:35pm
Sinn Féin TD for Louth, Ruairí Ó Murchú, has said that the violence and damage at Oriel Park on Friday night caused by a small group of idiots who put the safety of others at risk cannot be allowed to put government funding for the League of Ireland in jeopardy.
Deputy Ó Murchú attended the Dundalk v Drogheda United game where flares injured a 12-year-old Drogheda fan and caused substantial damage to the newly-laid artificial pitch at Oriel Park.
He described Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s ‘plague on all your houses’ threat today to cut funding as an unhelpful knee-jerk reaction, adding that the priority of the Department of Sport should be to work collaboratively with the FAI and clubs to ensure the safety of all who attend League of Ireland games.
Teachta Ó Murchú said:
“My thoughts today are, first and foremost, with the 12-year-old child who was injured by a flare being thrown and I wish him a speedy recovery.
“My thoughts also go out to the staff and volunteers at Dundalk, who have worked so hard over the past number of months to have Oriel Park ready for the new season.
“To witness the deliberate destruction of the new pitch at Oriel Park by the small number of idiots who threw flares onto the playing surface was a real slap in the face to everyone who gives their all to trying to promote and develop our league, and there is an onus now on Drogheda United to pay for the damage caused.
“I call on anyone with footage or information about any of the incidents that happened at or around Oriel Park on Friday to take it immediately to the Gardaí, without equivocation.
“It is very clear that there must be serious consequences for the behaviour we witnessed on Friday. Those repercussions should not, as the Minister put it today, be a ‘plague on all your houses’.
“Everyone is quite rightly united in our condemnation of the shameful scenes we witnessed but the threats that followed today from the Minister of Sport to withdraw funding are a knee-jerk reaction, and deeply unhelpful.
“Irish football has suffered from decades of underfunding. We simply cannot tolerate a situation where the behaviour of a small number of idiots is allowed to put long-awaited and very necessary government funding for the development of our league at risk.
“Neither Dundalk nor Drogheda United have infinite resources for security, but the contribution both clubs make to their communities is incalculable.
“What we needed to hear from the Minister for Sport today was a willingness to play an active role in engagement between League of Ireland clubs, the FAI, the Gardaí and all relevant authorities to mitigate the worst excesses of the small minority who are intent on trouble making and causing damage, and to ensure that the scenes we witnessed on Friday night are never repeated again.
“The FAI and the League of Ireland have a responsibility to deal with these issues, and to ensure the safety of all who attend games. Everyone has to work together towards this aim, including the Minister and Department for Sport.”
