Patrick O’Donovan, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, could have a career as a stand-up comic to fall back on if politics were unkind in the future.
We’ll keep most of his quips, some genuinely funny ones, as being for those of us in the room.
However, he also highlighted the deep roots between Ireland and the US last night as he addressed an audience of NFL executives, business leaders, and sporting figures at a special dinner hosted by Teneo in Dublin ahead of Sunday’s Steelers-Vikings clash at Croke Park.
Calling the occasion “unique” and one that was “not that long ago only a pipe dream,” the Minister reminded the room that the government had moved quickly to help secure the event. He paid tribute to officials in his department and at Sport Ireland, as well as the GAA, which he described as a crucial partner in making the game happen.
Growing up in a household where Gaelic games were central, the Minister shared personal stories of his late father, who instilled in him a love of sport and the ritual of marking match programmes with a biro. “When I bring the biro to games now with my son, he says, ‘you’re bringing Grandad with you,’” he said, underscoring the deep cultural and family ties that surround Irish sport.
He lightened the mood with several jokes — describing the reconfigured pitch at Croke Park as so small “you could take a 45 from the halfway line,” and likening the demand for NFL tickets to the frenzy around Oasis and Garth Brooks concerts. “We had 600,000 people in the waiting room for tickets,” he quipped. “So to the naysayers questioning whether this partnership with the NFL and the GAA is worthwhile — the case is closed.”
But the Minister also spoke with gravity about the symbolic importance of hosting the game at Croke Park, which he called “a place of pilgrimage” and a shrine to both sport and Irish independence. He recalled the tragedy of Bloody Sunday in 1920, when 14 civilians were killed during a match, and noted that the Hogan Stand is named for Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan, who was shot that day.
“This is hallowed ground,” he said. “And there is no more fitting group of people to take to that field than the descendants of Irish immigrants from Mayo and Down who built new lives in America.”
The Minister placed the event firmly within the government’s strategy of sports diplomacy, emphasising how international games bring people together across cultural and political divides. He outlined plans for further investment in Irish sport, from a new velodrome for Olympic cyclists to the country’s first national cricket stadium, and spoke of the potential legacy of NFL flag football in Ireland ahead of its Olympic debut in 2028.
Widening his lens, he situated the NFL occasion within the broader Irish-American story. He recalled the famine migrations, noting that 10% of Americans now claim Irish heritage. “This relationship is deep,” he said. “It’s not made up — it runs through every Irish family.”
He presented NFL executive Peter O’Reilly with a genealogy report from the National Archives, tracing his family to Kinnegad in County Westmeath. “Everyone in America has a little green sod they come from,” he said, “and this might be yours.”
In closing, the Minister stressed that the Irish government sees events like Sunday’s game not only as sporting spectacles, but as opportunities to strengthen bonds with the United States.
“This is bigger than pound shillings and pence,” he said. “It’s about family, it’s about history, and it’s about building something for the future.”
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