Senator Terry Leyden caused some uproar in the Seanad on Thursday when speaking about Ireland's failed bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Ireland received eight votes on Wednesday as France was chosen to host the World Cup in six years' time.
Senator Leyden, a member of the Fianna Fail party, said that Ireland's bid team had "made a bags of it".
It's crying over spilt milk at this stage as far as the Rugby World Cup because really, quite frankly, they made a bags of it. Let's call a spade a spade.
They hadn't an ability to negotiate, the Taoiseach wasn't there to negotiate, Minister Ross was more concerned about North Korea - I don't think they had a vote, did they?
Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond implored Leyden to "stick to what you know", it was advice he did not take.
Leyden caused controversy last month when also speaking about rugby. He claimed that rugby was bad for women's “health and well-being". Those were comments which he later said that he regretted and that he was ill-informed when he made them.
Today, the Roscommon senator went on to add that if he had been part of the bid team, Wales and Scotland would both have voted for Ireland as hosts. Scotland voted for France and Wales for South Africa.
I'll tell you one thing, when we were in power we could negotiate for world events. I wouldn't lose our Scottish connections, I wouldn't lose the Scottish vote or I wouldn't lose the Welsh vote. Where were they going? I mean, what kind of amateurs do you send out any more. Sure they wouldn't negotiate a piss-up in a brewery for God's sake. Give me a break.
