19 Flagship Sporting Events Receive Funding Under IPB Gathering Ireland Fund
19 Sporting events have been named in the list of 82 ‘Flagship Events’ that will receive funding under the €2m IPB Gathering Ireland Fund as announced by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring.
As highlighted in the Federation of Irish Sport’s Annual Review, sports tourism in Ireland is serious business. Not only does sport serve as a hook for bringing people to Ireland research by the British Tourism Authority would indicate that it attracts high spending tourists with their findings indicating that a “sports tourist” spends almost twice as much on average as the “ordinary tourist”
It was a sporting event, the Emerald Isle Classic, that was used as a platform to launch The Gathering in 2012. The Aviva Stadium Match between Notre Dame and Navy attracted the 35,000 visitors from the US, the largest number of Americans to ever travel to a sporting fixture outside of the US including the Olympic Games.
American Football is however only one example of the power of sports tourism in Ireland. In 2012 over 30 international sporting events were held throughout Ireland, generating tourism revenue for the economy. Examples include the 2,284 bed nights created by the Great Limerick Run; the 155,000 overseas visitors who played golf in Ireland spending an estimated €204m; and the 1.15 million people who attended the Tall Ships events in Dublin Port.
Federation of Irish Sport Chief Executive, Sarah O’Connor, welcomed Thursday’s announcement and reiterated just how important sport is to Ireland’s Tourism Industry, “Tourism is integral to Ireland’s economy and Irish Sport wants to ensure that it can play a full contributing to the future growth of both foreign and domestic tourism in Ireland. Internationally, we know that sports tourism is one of the fastest growing niches in the overall global tourism trade whilst, sport is also a key contributor to domestic tourism. In Canada 38% of their domestic tourism is directly attributed to travel associated with sport.
“Irish Sport has a strong track record in the hosting of sports events and it is unsurprising that sport is playing a key role in the Gathering. Indeed, we would hope that the contribution of sport to this year’s initiative might serve as a springboard to the development of a dedicated agency to bid for sports events which would ensure that sport and government were working in tandem to secure a steady stream of sports events into Ireland with all the ancillary benefits that this would provide in particular, the welcome dividend to our tourism industry.”
Speaking at the launch, Minister Ring said, “Our marketing efforts have moved up a level to promote the Gathering 2013, and have received a further boost with Ireland’s inclusion in Fodor’s Travel ‘Go List’ of top destinations to visit in 2013. USA Today has included The Gathering Ireland 2013 in its five ‘buzz-worthy destinations for 2013’, while Rick Steve’s’ has included a hurling match as one of the ‘8 magical experiences in Europe’.”
A total of 1322 of the 2,600 registered Gatherings to date will receive funding under the IPB Gathering Ireland Fund which was administered by the City and County Councils based on agreed application criteria.
Deaf Sports Ireland has kicked off the year by beginning preparations for this July’s Summer Deaflympics, which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Irish Deaf Men’s football team have already qualified for the games, after a penalty shoot out win over Germany, last September.
Other Irish teams hoping to qualify include badminton, tennis and swimming. Altogether, there are 18 sports included in the Deaflympics. The cost of sending these athletes to compete in Bulgaria is substantial, estimated at roughly €100,000 for 50 competitors. The Irish Sports Council (ISC) Core Grant will cover some of the costs and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will also provide some financial support. However, in order to compete, these athletes will still depend on private donations.
The Summer Deaflympics were first held in Paris in 1924 as the International Silent Games, a full 22 years before the Paralympics, rendering them the second oldest multiple sporting event worldwide. Four years ago, records were broken when 10,000 volunteers were involved and 4081 people participated in the games. This included officials as well as athletes, and it is expected that this record will be broken once again this summer.
The Deaflympics and Paralympics are very distinct from one another and whilst the Paralympics boasts many categories, none are specifically aimed at Deaf athletes. The Deaflympics events cannot be guided by sounds, ruling out the use of whistles, bullhorns and gunshots. Other signals are used, for example, in football tournaments the referee waves a flag.
Some Deaf competitors feel that they would have an unfair physical advantage in the Paralympics, while for others the importance lies in the cultural distinction between the two sporting events. The Deaflympics are also more inclusive for Deaf athletes who will not be isolated socially from other athletes through a language barrier.
For more information, contact:
Lorelei Fox-Roberts
Communications and fundraising assistant, Deaf Sports Ireland
Irish Wheelchair Association – Sport (IWA – Sport) has been granted the hosting of the Wheelchair Rugby European Qualifying Championships from the 7th to the 9th of February 2013 in Gormanston College, Co Meath.
This tournament will see Ireland, Italy, Holland and the Czech Republic compete for two places in the European Championships in Antwerp, Belgium in August 2013.
The tournament will begin on Thursday evening the 7th of February with Ireland taking on the Czech Republic and Italy facing Holland.
Supporters are welcome to attend at any stage over the three days and admission is free.
The fixtures and times are as follows;
Thursday 7th of February
Opening ceremony Time 6pm Ireland v Czech Republic Time: 615pm
About Wheelchair Rugby – Wheelchair Rugby is a mixed team sport for male and female quadriplegic athletes. A unique sport created by athletes with a disability, it combines elements of rugby, basketball and handball. Players compete in manual wheelchairs specifically designed for the sport. Players compete in teams of four to carry the ball across the opposing team’s goal line. Contact between wheelchairs is permitted, and is in fact an integral part of the sport as players use their chairs to block and hold opponents. Players must meet minimum disability criteria and be classifiable under the sport classification rules. Wheelchair Rugby is a Paralympic sport, with twenty-six countries competing in international competition and more than ten others developing national programs.
About Irish Wheelchair Association Sport (IWA- Sport) IWA Sport is the National Governing Body (NGB) in Ireland for sport for people with physical disability and our mission is to provide opportunities for people with a disability to participate in sport at a level of their choice.
IWA – Sport is primarily funded by the Irish Sports Council and we deliver an annual programme of services in line with our 2012 – 2015 strategy including recreational and competitive participation opportunities, multi sport junior level and sports specific participation opportunities, home and international competition opportunities, high performance programmes and other forms of expertise in areas including access consultation, advocacy and a general focus on increasing the awareness of our services.
As a multi sport NGB our highest participative sports are as follows; wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, athletics, swimming, table tennis, archery, sailing, handcycling, tennis, boccia and bowls. We also promote other sports and while this list is not exhaustive it currently includes, fishing, rowing, cue sports, badminton, powerlifting and volleyball.
2012 was a great year for Irish Sport. The Federation’s Annual Review published at the end of November was testament to this. The achievements of our international athletes across a multitude of sports are well documented. Once again however the success of Irish Sport in 2012 was about much more than just sport.
The continued increase in sports participation achieved through the work of the national sports organisations and local sports partnerships can only have a positive impact at public health at a time when the health budget, more than any area of government expenditure is under extreme strain.
The tourism revenues generated by sport for Ireland as evidenced not just by the American Football match which, brought 37,000 Americans to Ireland for a week but also the multitude of cycles, runs, triathlons and matches that bring money into local economies around the country week in week out. Sport continues to support in excess of 38,000 jobs and contributes €1.4 billion to GDP.
But more than that, sport was a beacon of light and of hope amongst the endless commentary of doom and gloom. We all know where we were when Katie won gold and how good that made us as a country and as a people feel. The impossible became possible. Talent, hard work and belief overcame the challenges and for a few moments, our flag flew higher than all others. Sport taught us that day that we should have faith in ourselves and with the right support, diligence and effort anything is possible.
This is the message that the Federation has been consistently making to government over the last four years and in many ways significant progress was made during 2012. Some of the achievements include:
A 2.9% reduction in Irish Sports Council funding in place of the anticipated 5% cut
A commitment that sport will form part of the 2013 Global Economic Forum
Sport being encouraged to play its part in the Gathering in recognition of sport’s ability to draw people to Ireland
52% of the National Sports Organisations funded by the Irish Sports Council have now made provision for JSI within their rules up from 32% at the start of the year
The undertaking of a review of the services provided by JSI as well as a simplification and streamlining of the process through the updating of the JSI Rulebook
Launching a group insurance scheme after undergoing an intensive tender process designed to deliver reduced premia and consistency of pricing to all of Irish Sport. 7 organisations have signed up to date achieving a saving of between 11% & 37% on their insurance costs
Securing private sector funding to conduct a strategic review with the final report due to be put before the Federation Executive Committee in February
Hosting the National Awards to Volunteers in Sport which recognised 11 exceptional individuals whose long commitment to sport is an example of how sport brings out the best in us
Making of submissions to the Department of Agriculture in relation to betting tax
Submissions made to the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport in relation to alcohol sponsorship of sport and the extension of the existing tax relief programme in relation to donations to sporting bodies as well as on-going consultation on the formation of Sport Ireland
Representing Ireland on the European Union’s Expert Group on Good Governance in Sport
2013 economically at least looks like it will be another difficult year for Ireland Inc. The challenge for all of us involved in Irish Sport will be in trying to retain the spirit of the memories created by 2012 to ensure that the potential for sport as a cornerstone on which a better Ireland can be built is not forgotten. There will be better times ahead. Sport cannot only help us get there but will sustain us along the way.
The Federation will be spreading this message in 2013. Not only will we be arguing that no further reductions in funding particularly, to the Irish Sports Council should be made but also that government need to look beyond funding to other policy measures that can be made to facilitate the continued development of sport in Ireland.
We intend to establish a Friends of Sport Group within the Oireachtas and will publish four policy papers over the course of 2013 in addition, to our Annual Review. We will also publish our 5 year Strategic Plan and host our first Annual Conference in May.
We are grateful to our members and to all those with an interest in and passion for Irish Sport for their continued support and assistance to the Federation during 2012. We look forward to working with you for a better sporting future for Ireland and all of her people next year. In the meantime on behalf of the team in the office and the Executive Committee, we would like to wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and nothing but the best for 2013. Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit
Gymnastics Ireland CEO Ciaran Gallagher talks to us about his organisation’s successful re-brand the new ‘Gym Edge’ initiative and why cooperation amongst sports organisations is so important.
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