An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel

Thank you.
With the tournament just weeks away, why has there been no promotion of the event on the IWA or IWA-Sport social media? Was there a decision not to publicise the Israeli fixture until the tournament commenced? If so, who made it and why was it made? I also have to ask whether responses to these concerns have been condescending. Would questions about transparency around an Irish international team be treated this way in any other sport? Wheelchair basketball deserves the same scrutiny and accountability as all international sports. The IWA stresses that the final board decision was unanimous, but were concerns raised or alternatives proposed before that vote? If the IWA stands over its robust process, it should be comfortable explaining it. After five weeks, straightforward questions remain unanswered. What is there to hide? Like I said at the start, the wheelchairs are sitting in Jordan. They should be in Gaza. Israel has created so many wheelchair users that it is completely unacceptable that the Irish Wheelchair Association would accept an invitation to play Israel. Israel, like I said, has caused a genocide and the Irish Wheelchair Association is engaging with it and playing with it. This is just unacceptable. It is not acceptable in wheelchair sports; it is not acceptable in any sport.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-30