NEWLY ELECTED DUBLIN MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin took the time to give thanks to League of Ireland fans for coming out in force during the local and European elections.

The Labour Party veteran, who has been a TD since 2011, said that the increased political consciousness among the Irish football community is an important step forward for the game and its development in Ireland.

Speaking to The Journal, Ó Ríordáin emphasised that football is a political issue, and isn’t divorced from “traditional politics”.

“The problem is that it isn’t generally seen as politically backable. A lot of politicians want the association, but there’s a lot of work that should go with that that doesn’t get done,” he said.

Small crowd sizes, FAI corruption scandals, and clubs frequently experiencing financial difficulties have historically impacted the popularity of the domestic game among politicians in Ireland.

“For many, it’s more politically advantageous to be seen to be a Liverpool fan than a Shelbourne fan,” Ó Ríordáin said.

The core of the issue, he says, comes down to investment – or rather a lack thereof.

“We need a bigger vision for the League of Ireland, to be serious about money, about supporting the career prospects of our younger players through improved academies, about properly supporting the women’s game,” he said.

“Why is that ten years ago, 75% of our women’s national team played in the League of Ireland, while today, none do? The answer is investment, and I think football fans are waking up to that.”

The concept of a sports lobby is certainly not a new one to Irish sport.

Other organisations like the GAA and IRFU have presented a unified voice for their codes for decades, and the horse and greyhound racing lobby is one of the strongest in the country.

However, football has not been able to present a similarly cohesive voice, despite it being arguably the most popular sport in the country.

Part of that problem, according to Gavin Cooney of The Journal’s sister site The 42, has been the fractured nature of Irish football.

“Rather than there being one clear voice that you would hear from the likes of the GAA or rugby, in football, you have a lot of different sides arguing with each other,” he tells The Journal.

“Amateur complain about the League of Ireland receiving more funding as they’re already professional. The League of Ireland will say they need the extra funding for their academies, especially as Brexit has meant Irish players can’t access the UK as easily as they once could.

“With so many competing voices internally, it’s next to impossible to project a unified voice when looking for investment.”

One thing that he points to is that the issue of football is becoming one that more and more politicians are interested in.

In May of this year, the the head of the FAI’s academy development, Will Clarke, gave a presentation at Leinster House on the need for academy investment. As Cooney describes it, the engagement from politicians was surprising, but extremely positive.

“All the seats were filled, and everyone stayed for the full hour presentation. This reflects an interest and appetite for football issues among politicians. For anyone that cares about the League of Ireland and Irish football generally, this is extremely encouraging,” he said.

For Ó Ríordáin then, Europe offers a valuable opportunity to push this momentum forward and give Irish football the attention it deserves.

“For working class communities, football is the most effective anti-drugs, anti-racism, and anti-obesity tool in our arsenal.”

He highlighted the positives that he had already seen, such as EU funded numeracy programmes run by Bohemians, using football to develop mathematics skills.

“Football needs to step up because it’s so fundamentally important. I can’t say for certain that everyone who I spoke to outside the stadiums voted for me, but I believe the result has given me a mandate to speak for Irish football on the European stage,” he said.