Limerick senator defends trip to Japan for Rugby World Cup

LIMERICK senator Maria Byrne flies home this week after a fortnight in Japan – and has rejected suggestions that the Parliamentary Rugby World Cup is a politicians’ junket.

The Fine Gael general election candidate for Limerick City is part of an Oireachtas group of 32 who flew to Tokyo for an event started by Nelson Mandela when South Africa hosted the World Cup in 1995.

Speaking to the Leader in Tokyo, Maria said: “I saw the Daily Mail ran an article, basically making out that we shouldn’t be here. I’ve seen a few other comments but the fact is that everybody paid for themselves to come out here.

“This is all about parliaments coming together through rugby and sharing experiences. So I’m sorry - but this is about building relationships. We have Australia and New Zealand here, we’ve Argentina, France, the UK, Georgia ...”

Ireland were beaten in their first match by eventual champions New Zealand, which came as a bitter disappointment to team captain Neale Richmond - like Maria a Fine Gael senator.

Maria, of course, is a member of the family that has run Bobby Byrne’s pub in Wolfe Tone Street for more than half a century. Bobby’s is synonymous with rugby and Maria is a keen Garryowen supporter, so did she get a run herself in any of the games?

“No, I have a banjaxed knee,” she said. “I’ve been on the management side of things – I’m part of the water committee and the God-knows-what committee.”

Cynics might have thought that the whole trip was a mere holiday, but Maria insisted that the Irish team took the tournament very seriously – “and they were in bed at ten o’clock on the night before their matches.”

The brave Irish bounced back to hammer the UK’s Commons and Lords team 25-0 in their second game. That was a nice feather in the cap of skipper Richmond, who is Fine Gael’s Brexit spokesman in the Seanad.

“We always beat them,” he told the Leader shortly after leading Ireland to a 27-7 triumph over the hosts in the final of the Plate, in a game covered by Japanese TV.

“It’s been brilliant,” said Neale, normally a tighthead prop for Old Wesley but a back-row forward in Japan. “We haven’t been in a position to play in the last two tournaments for various economic and political reasons so it was a big undertaking to get the team back in the tournament.

“It’s been very rewarding spending time with hundreds of parliamentarians from nine different countries who all love rugby.”

As well as fitting in some sight-seeing, the Irish delegation managed to squeeze in three Rugby World Cup games, including Ireland’s epic performance against Scotland in Yokohama on Sunday. “But we have to go back to work now – the house is sitting,” said Maria.

Even when 6,000 miles away, any self-respecting general election candidate knows they have to keep a close eye on what’s happening back home – and the Fine Gael woman is no exception.

“I saw I got a nice mention in ‘Spartacus’,” said a clearly chuffed Maria, referring to the column that appears in the Limerick Leader’s free newspaper, The Leader. “It said I was keeping an eye on what was going on in Limerick at all hours.”

Thanks to their victory over the Japanese, Ireland’s rugby-loving parliamentarians will have the Rhino Trophy with them on the plane home. The thousands of Irish supporters who have traveled to Japan will be hoping that the somewhat more significant Webb Ellis Cup will be the next trophy won by an Irish rugby team out here.