Paschal Donohoe TD unveiled as new Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

Jul 11, 2014

It has been announced that Mr. Paschal Donohoe, T.D. has been chosen as the new Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. By doing so, he replaces Mr. Leo Varadkar who has moved to the position of Health Minister.

Prior to the announcement, Mr. Donohoe was appointed Minister of State for European Affairs at the Dept of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs and Trade in July 2013. He was elected to the Dail in February 2011 and  was previously elected to Seanad Eireann in 2007 where he was the Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Transport.

Minister. Donohoe was a member of Dublin City Council from 2004 to 2007. He was educated at St Declan’s CBS, Cabra and Trinity College, Dublin. After graduation he worked in the UK and Ireland and became the Sales & Marketing Director for a multinational company. Mr. Donohoe is married with two young children and lives in Shandon Park, Phibsborough.

The Federation of Irish Sport is looking forward to working with Minster Donohoe moving forward.

The Federation would like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Varadkar for all his work for sport during his tenure at the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport. We are grateful to him for his support for the Federation and wish him all the very best at the Department of Health. We look forward to maintaining our working relationship with him there through the Healthy Ireland initiative in which, the Federation are proud to play a part.

Work to start on National High Performance Centre for Athletes

Jul 10, 2014

Work will start on a national High Performance Centre at the Irish Institute of Sport after Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar signed off on the project today.

The Centre will provide training, rehabilitation, and strength and conditioning facilities for athletes in a new extension at the existing Irish Institute of Sport building at the National Sports Campus in Dublin.

Athletes from a wide range of sports will be catered for including boxing and athletics. Dedicated facilities will include a six-lane running track, jumps area, performance analysis area, strength and conditioning facilities, rehabilitation and physiotherapy areas and a boxing area.

“I’m delighted that work can now start on the High Performance Centre. It represents the first stage of the new National Indoor Arena and will be completed in time to support our elite athletes in their preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio,” Minster Varadkar said.

“The Institute of Irish Sport already offers unparalleled support for our elite athletes and these new facilities will expand the range of services available.”

Minister Varadkar also approved the start of work on a Campus Pavilion building, to accommodate changing facilities for the National Indoor Arena. Work on the High Performance Centre and Pavilion Building is expected to start in September for a nine month period, once the necessary procurement process has been conducted by the National Sports Campus Development Authority.

FIS Annual Conference Feedback

Jul 4, 2014

Federation of Irish Sport Annual Conference 2014 – Feedback

The Federation of Irish Sport held its second annual conference back in May at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. The theme of the conference was Shaping Sports Future with Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Mr Leo Varadkar the keynote speaker.

The conference was generally felt to be  a success with over 160 people attending – building on the previous year’s inaugural event- however we believe there is still further room for improvement and appreciated the feedback we received from delegates.

Asked on their opinion of the conference – 97% answered that it was either exactly how they had anticipated it or it was better than they had anticipated – 50% said better, 47% said exactly as anticipated.

Asked if they were likely to attend next year’s conference, based on this year’s event 76% of those who took the survey said they were ‘very likely’. A further 13% said they would be ‘somewhat likely’ while 11% answered ‘unsure’.

Finally, we asked if attendees had any recommendations that they felt could improve the day in terms of moving forward. Below is a summary of the major points raised:

• More time should be allocated for a Q&A between the floor and the panellists. The majority of respondents thought the level of those speaking were of a very high calibre, but requested more time to ask some questions. A workshop was also suggested.
• Many thought the interviews between the Conference and the meal were hard to hear due to the proximity from the stage to the bar and delegates desire to network during this period. The Federation were disappointed this part of the conference could not be heard by some as the topics discussed were particularly interesting.
• ‘Pin on’ name badges were suggested instead of the lanyards. It was argued they would be at eye level and thus better utilised.
• Email addresses as well as contact information for all attending delegates be made available to take home.

Featured Event: Special Olympics in Limerick

Jul 4, 2014

Featured Event: Special Olympics Ireland Games 2014

“LET ME WIN BUT IF I CANNOT WIN LET ME BE BRAVE IN THE ATTEMPT”

-Athlete Oath

Location: Limerick, Clare & Tipperary.

DATE: Thursday 12^th – Sunday 15^th June 2014

PARTICIPATING TEAMS/ATHLETES/SPORTS: 1,500 athletes took part in 14 olympic type sports over the entire weekend.  There was a wide variety of sports across the three counties, with the majority taking place in University of Limerick. UL facilities are amongst the best in the country acted as a great centre for the occasion.

The sports included were:

• Athletics
• Aquatics
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Bocce
• Bowling
• Equestrian
• Football
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Kayaking
• Motor Activities Training Programme
• Pitch and Putt
• Table Tennis

About Special Olympics Ireland:

Special Olympics Ireland is a sports organisation for people with an intellectual disability, but it provides athletes with far more than the physical benefits of sport. Special Olympics changes lives. Through sport, athletes develop both physically and emotionally, they make new friends and realise their dreams. Special Olympics Ireland enables our athletes to achieve and win not only in sport but in life too.

Special Olympics Ireland currently has almost 10,000 registered athletes participating in 15 sports in 385 Clubs throughout the island of Ireland.  These athletes are supported by their families and a team of 25,000 volunteers who give of their time to help out at sporting and fundraising events.

MISSION

The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”

VISION

The vision is to build the programme offered by Special Olympics Ireland so that every person with a learning disability has the opportunity, in their local community, to participate in high quality sport and development activities that bring life-changing experiences of increased skills, self-confidence and joy.

THE EVENT:

Venue – With Limerick as the centre, the Games took place within a big geographical area, encompassing three counties. The centre of the Special Olympics was in University of Limerick (UL) in Castletroy. UL was the venue for Aquatics, Athletics, Basketball, Football, Gymnastics, Kayaking and Motor Activities Training Programme. Those taking part in Golf did so at the Ballykisteen Golf Club in County Tipperary, while Equestrian took place in the Clonshire Equestrian Centre in Adare County Limerick. Mary Immaculate College hosted the Table Tennis as well as the Badminton while Bocce was took place in the Delta Sports Dome, again in Limerick. Pitch n’ Putt took place at Murroe Pitch and Putt. Finally the third County – Clare – hosted Bowling at the Ennis Leisure World.

Event in Numbers – The Special Olympics Games in Limerick saw a magnificent level of participation.  Five Delegations from Eastern, Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster regions participated comprising 1,500 athletes, xxx coaches with 3,000 volunteers giving of their time to host the Games.  Over 7,000 people attended the Opening Ceremony, which began with a parade of the Delegations through Limerick City culminating in the People’s Park with a host of entertainers, including signer Paddy Casey. There was a real carnival atmosphere in Limerick with the  people of Limerick coming out in huge numbers to cheer on the teams

What next for Special Olympics in 2014?

As a result of these games, 100 Athletes will be chosen to represent Team Ireland at the Special Olympics World Summer games in Los Angeles next year.

On a continual basis Special Olympics offers weekly training across multiple sports as well as regular competitions for those who want to compete. Competition is not for everyone, so our focus is on participation and helping every athlete achieve their personal best.

How the event went:

The Special Olympics in Limerick was a major success. With 1,500 athletes taking part in 14 sports the variety of sport was one of the major highlights.

Special Olympics Ireland CEO Matt English said: “We need to make sure that every new athlete that joins the programme their lives will be changed and they will get to experience hopefully a life-long involvement, because Special Olympics have athletes here today the youngest was 8 and the oldest was 77. It is life-long.”

English continued: “We want to make sure that after this we keep Special Olympics strong because there are 1,500 athletes participated in the games here but there are 10,000 athletes that are training week in week out and I think it’s important that people realise that we need never to get complacent about Special Olympics.”

The games smooth running was hugely attributed to the 3,000 plus strong volunteer force and whose help was invaluable.

English also praised the 120 health professionals, including opticians, dentist, podiatrists and dieticians, who were on hand to give out expert free advice to athletes, who availed of full eye tests and were given prescriptions for new glasses and goggles free of charge.