government, UEFA and Bank of Ireland. Gaffes Ross's apparent lack of knowledge of sports in multiple disciplines has been repeatedly observed. He tweeted, "Go Katie go!", shortly after Finnish boxer Mira Potkonen knocked Katie Taylor out of the 2016 Summer Olympics. A few days later, after Thomas Barr twice broke the Irish record on his way to finishing fourth in the final of the men's 400 metres hurdles at the same Olympics, Ross instead congratulated a "Thomas Barry". Following the Ireland national rugby union team's 2018 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam, Ross tweeted a photograph of himself alongside Ireland players Johnny Sexton and Rob Kearney; the photograph's caption stated, "Congratulations and welcome home this evening to superstars Johnny Sexton and Dave Kearney". Rob Kearney responded to Ross's error by tweeting: "You're welcome Leo", followed by a wink emoticon. In May 2018, Ross tweeted that he was "delighted to confirm" that a fee-paying school, Wesley College (located in his constituency), would be given a grant of €150,000 to resurface its field hockey pitch. Ross was then criticised for announcing increased funding for the Ireland women's national field hockey team following their second-place finish at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup in August 2018, the timing being seen to indicate a publicity stunt on Ross's part. The following month, a statement from Ross congratulated a "Dominant Pušpure" after Sanita Pušpure's gold medal win at the 2018 World Rowing Championships. In mid-November 2018, Ross tweeted a photograph of himself inside the stadium celebrating the Ireland rugby union team's victory over the All Blacks in Dublin; the photograph portrayed his tie poking through an open trouser fly. During a radio interview on Newstalk on 30 November 2018, Ross displayed a lack of knowledge of association football; initially crediting the goalkeeper Shay Given with having scored the winning goal against Germany in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying in October 2015, Ross corrected himself and credited Given with the assist and Shane Long with the goal. The problem, which was not corrected during the interview, was that Given had gone off injured after half an hour and it was his replacement, Darren Randolph, who had provided the famous assist. During the same interview Ross congratulated a "Shane Kenny" on being appointed manager of the Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, with the intention of being promoted to the senior job after UEFA Euro 2020. Publications References