Politician rallies parliament to FUND F1 promotion for driver

A member of the Irish government has called upon the country's leaders to do more to support young driver Alex Dunne in his bid to reach Formula 1.

John Clendennen, TD for Offaly, asked Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Patrick O’Donovan to look outside the ‘traditional codes’ and into providing more central funding for other sports.

Dunne, also from County Offaly, took his eighth podium of an up and down F2 season in Qatar this weekend to sit fifth in the championship going into the season-ending double-header in Abu Dhabi.

Italian driver Leonardo Fornaroli claimed the 2025 F2 title with a race to spare in Qatar, and has since been announced as a member of the McLaren driver development programme.

Dunne himself split with the McLaren driver academy in October, a surprise move which some linked with a possible switch to Red Bull – something that team advisor Helmut Marko toyed with briefly before rejecting for the time being.

In his speech, Clendennen claimed that Dunne is 'simply ignored by our sporting organisations', calling for 'generational support' for a 'generational talent'.

Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, promised to raise the matter further, adding that Dunne has 'probably reached levels that we haven’t seen for an Irish person since Eddie Irvine'.

Irish politician backs Alex Dunne

In a later post on social media, Clendennen shared a clip of his speech with the caption: "Today in the Dáil I raised the need for support for Alex Dunne, a generational talent on the cusp of Formula 1, competing on the world stage with hundreds of millions of viewers yet little recognition and zero support from our national sporting bodies.

"Government has made exceptional progress in developing pathways, participation, and high-performance programmes across mainstream sports.

"But we now need a framework that also supports world-class athletes outside the traditional codes, where Ireland has the potential to shine just as brightly.

"Young talents like Alex Dunne deserve every opportunity to reach the pinnacle of their sport, and Ireland should be proud to back them."

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