Notion of fighter's face on cash is rebuffed

In about as much time as a standard UFC bout parliamentarians dispatched the idea as inadmissible with a warning that they had not been able to contact the man behind it.

But the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions said it was glad Patrick O’Leary had raised awareness of its work.

It urged him to get advice from the Central Bank on the Eurozone’s rules for minting heads on commemorative coins and currency.

Chairman Padraig MacLochlainn said it was clear that because the petitioner could not be contacted his idea had to be thrown out.

“Whatever the public may think of the merits of this petition I welcome the fact that it has drawn attention to our work,” he said.

Committee member Richard Boyd Barrett described McGregor as a phenomenon.

“We have no choice.

There was a slight jokey element to the petition, the actual wording, so we can’t take it any further,” he said.

But the People Before Profit TD said the idea raised awareness of debate on how other champions are honoured such as record breaking boxer Katie Taylor and controversial world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

“There’s huge public interest in the suggestion because there’s a slightly more serious issue at stake, which is, how do we and should we pay tribute or commemorate or honour people in this country who have excelled,” he said.

McGregor went online for a pre-emptive strike by posting a mocked up image of his head on the coin, proclaiming the boom is back.

He said: “It would be a true honour for me to be immortalised on the one euro coin!”

Senator Susan O’Keefe said it was unfortunate the committee could not get hold of Mr O’Leary.

“But it does show in this committee we are able and capable and willing to respond to all matters,” she said.

The committee has received 159 petitions in five years and 44 have been deemed inadmissible.

Other items agreed at the hearing included asking the Committee On Health And Children for a report on the risks of holding electronic records of patients.

It is also writing to Dublin City Council, the National Transport Authority, the Railway Procurement Agency and Luas operators Transdev for information on plans for better cycle lanes in the capital.

A third petition, which had 20,000 signatures, will see education and justice officials being asked to explain the law behind equal school access for children.