Ireland 2026: Leading the European Sporting Agenda – Foundations, Policy & Future Diplomacy

The Federation’s opening event of 2026 the Annual Leaders Forum focused on the theme of ‘Ireland 2026: Leading the European Sporting Agenda – Foundations, Policy & Future Diplomacy’. Member CEOs, Coordinators and Senior Management of National Governing Bodies, Local Sports Partnerships, FIS Commercial Partners and key stakeholders in sport recently gathered for the forum at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown.

The event shared up to date information relevant to the sector which included a presentation from Ciarán Shanley the Principal Officer of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport on ‘Sports Policy and Projects for 2026 and Beyond’ followed by an in-depth panel discussion.

The presentation reviewed the overall objectives of a National Sports Policy such as increasing participation and improving accessibility across all demographics, increase funding, to develop high performance supports and to introduce governance codes for funded bodies. The current focus is on designing next National Sports Policy – assessing impact and potential to add value over the next 10 years. The Department are working with the sector to take stock and in identifying priority areas, such as disability participation.

To conclude the presentation the main achievements of the current plan were illustrated such as government investment in sport has almost tripled, participation in sport is up across all demographics and high-performance supports bearing fruit. There is also a solid pipeline of major sports events being hosted in Ireland. The priority is to now assess the challenges and opportunities when identifying key priorities for next sports policy, in improving governance at local level and improving the targeting of investment.

Following the Department update, there was an in-depth panel discussion, moderated by Mary O’Connor CEO Federation of Irish Sport, with guest panellists Dr. Úna May CEO Sport Ireland, Vinnie O’Shea National Coordinator Healthy Ireland, Hamish Adams CEO Athletics Ireland. The theme of the discussion was ‘Irelands next sport policy – Sport for a Global Ireland: Participation, Performance, and Sustainability (2028–2038’).

Speaking following the Annual Leaders Forum Mary O’Connor, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport, said: ” It was clear from the panel discussion today is that the success of the next National Sports Policy will depend not just on ambition, but on how well it supports the people and organisations doing the work every day in clubs, communities and counties across the country.”