Feb 17, 2014
The Irish Sports Council announced an investment plan of €25 million for 2014 on February 12th. This investment includes €11 million for National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), €5 million for Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) and €8.7 million for High Performance Sport and provides an overview of the Council’s investment strategy for 2014.
€10.6 million will be allocated to support the core activities of 59 Governing Bodies of Sport. In addition, €583,000 will be dedicated to Women in Sport activities across the NGB sector. This investment will look to continue the support of participation programmes which has seen considerable increases in membership including Athletics Ireland (49,000 members) and Cycling (20,000 member).
The National Network of Local Sports Partnerships will receive €5.01 million to support their work in promoting participating in sport and physical activity. In 2013, over 200,000 people took part in local participation programmes while mass participation events such the An Post Cycle Series and Operation Transformation National Walks and Fun Runs attracted over 35,000 participants.
€8.7 m will be invested directly into high performance sports bodies. This investment will continue to build on the success of high performance sport in Ireland which saw a record 67 medals achieved last year at European and World events across a multitude of sports. In 2014, the Council will continue to implement the recommendations of the London Debrief and International Carding Scheme. For the first time Golf will be supported as a single entity by the Council. The establishment of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland is a major development which brings the three golfing organisations together in a joint structure to develop golf in Ireland to its full potential.
2014 promises to be another incredible year of sporting events. One of the highlights of the year will be the Special Olympic Ireland Games taking place in Limerick in June. To support the success of the games, the Council has made an additional provision of €200,000 available to Special Olympics Ireland.
Kieran Mulvey, Chairman of the Irish Sports Council said that “I want to acknowledge the sports bodies and partnerships that provide opportunities to support our mission to increase participation in sport and enhance high performance. I also want to acknowledge the Council’s commitment to the Governance Code for Community and Voluntary organisations. This code for good governance will further strengthen our sector, providing a guide on policies and procedures that will empower all Council funded bodies and assist them in achieving excellence in all areas of their work”.
In addition to High Performance, Governing Bodies and Participation, the Council will continue to lead the development in areas such as Anti-Doping Coaching, the Institute of Sport, National Trails and Research.
John Treacy, CEO of the Council said: “In addition to today’s investment announcement, the Council is also committed to building capability across the sports sector organisations. The strategic provision of Organisational Capability Building services in the areas of Project Management, Governance, Risk Management, Strategic Planning, Change Management, Employee Performance Management and Organisational Leadership will be a priority in developing the sporting sector”.
Irish Sports Council Supporting NGBs in 2014
- Confederation of Irish Golf commences work
- Special Olympics Ireland host summer games in Limerick
- Rolling out Organisation Capability Building Programme
- Supporting NGBs grow membership and drive participation in sport
- Funding 26 NGBs for Women in Sport Programmes
- 59 NGBs will receive funding for core activities
- 18 sports will receive support to deliver High Performance Plans
- 2 more (Gymnastics and Clay Pigeon Shooting) will receive support for high performance projects
- Coaching Ireland delivering services directly to NGBs
- Institute of Sport working in partnership with NGBs to deliver services directly to athletes and coaches
- Local Sports Partnerships work with NGBs at community level to deliver programmes to target groups
- Supporting Sport HQ at the National Sports Campus @ Abbotstown
Irish Sports Council Supporting LSPs in 2014
- Investing in 30 Local Sports Partnerships to support the Participation strategy
- Delivering the An Post Cycle Series across five counties to over 16,000 participants
- Investing in the Sports Inclusion Disability Programme including support to 16 Sports Inclusion Disability Officers throughout the network.
- Working with Operation Transformation to deliver National Walks and 5k Fun Runs to over 35,000 people
- Investing in the Women in Sports programme to deliver activities across in local communities
- Supporting innovation in sport through initiatives such as Park Run
See more here
Feb 14, 2014
John Kelly has been appointed as the new National Handball Manager for the GAA. The Longford native takes over from Tony Hannon who had been acting National Manager and departed the post last November.
A member of the Ardagh St Patricks GAA club in Longford, John has been employed as Fixtures and Events Officer for the past 5 years with the Association and now takes the step up to National Manager. “I am very honoured to have been appointed to the position of National Handball Manager” Kelly said, “In the past five years I have met some incredible people in the sport and have seen the terrific work that is being done at grassroots level and it is a credit to all the volunteers out there. My job is to maintain this great work and build our Association from here as the clubs and the volunteers are the lifeblood of our Association.”
One of his main aims will be to increase the profile of the game here in Ireland and throughout the World.
“We currently boast the top Mens & Ladies Handballers in the World in Paul Brady and Aisling Reilly. This is something not many Irish Sports can say. Paul Brady has been one of the most phenomenal athletes in Irish Sport in the last decade but has not always got the recognition his brilliance deserved. Others like Fiona Shannon, Aisling Reilly, Catriona Casey, Robbie McCarthy and Eoin Kennedy to name a few have raised the standard of the sport significantly in recent years and my aim is to try and raise the profile of GAA Handball to ensure that the talent in our sport gets the recognition it deserves and also our sport grows and appeals to people all over Ireland and indeed worldwide”
He also believes that there is a very bright future for GAA Handball with the talent that the sport currently has at Juvenile level.
“There is great work currently been done at schools level and at Juvenile level throughout the country and it is imperative that we give these players the best possible opportunity to succeed in the sport”
John Kelly was educated at St Mel’s Longford and DIT, graduating with a Degree in Marketing and E-Business. He has previously worked for Celtic FC, AIB, CDC Software and Mars Ireland aswell as his previous role in GAA Handball.
His first official function will be at GAA Handball Congress on Sunday 9th February which takes place in Clare.
Read More Here: http://www.gaahandball.ie/
Jan 29, 2014
DCU are pleased to announce their sporting masterclasses. These workshops have been designed to cover areas that have been shown to be of great value in performance sports settings yet aren’t traditionally covered in formal coaching qualifications. The workshops offer the opportunity to learn from highly successful elite coaches who are happy to share their own experiences, ideas and methods with aspiring coaches and interested parties. The format and content will be suitable for coaches and managers from all sporting backgrounds.
DCU Coaching Masterclass Flyer final External
Presenters include:
A number of different contributors from various sports have been carefully selected to cover the areas chosen.
– Billy Walsh – European, World and Olympic medal winning boxing coach and leader of the Irish Boxing High Performance Unit. Former Coach of the Year
– Jim Gavin – Manager to Dublin’s All Ireland winning football team
– Liam Sheedy – Manager to Tipperary’s All Ireland winning hurling team
– Gary Keegan – Irish Institute of Sport Chief and the coach responsible for developing the high performance unit of Irish Boxing
– Rory Fitzpatrick – Coach to Annalise Murphy, Ireland’s recently crowned European Champion and Olympic sailor
Some of the areas covered will be:
– Leadership in coaching
– Developing a performance environment in your coaching setting
– Creating successful teams
– Self development for the good of your athletes and teams
Dates:
– Wednesday 12 February 7.30-10pm
– Wednesday 26 February 7.30-10pm
– Wednesday 12 March 7.30-10pm
Format:
Each session will consist of two presentations delivered by highly experienced coaches/managers followed by a discussion forum at the end. There will be a short break between each session and refreshments will be provided.
Booking only at:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/dcu-sports-coaching-masterclass-workshops-tickets-10099165877
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@DCUcoaching
Jan 27, 2014
The largest study of participation in sport and exercise ever conducted in Ireland was published today (18th December) by Minister for Sport Michael Ring. “Keeping them in the Game”, commissioned by the Irish Sports Council and compiled by ESRI researchers, provides evidence for policy from three large nationally representative surveys of activity, covering everyone from primary school children to older adults.
In launching the report Minister Michael Ring highlighted “the importance of having research of this quality in order to inform important policy decisions around trying to increase the number of Irish people taking part in sport throughout their lives.”
The report highlights the growing evidence linking low levels of physical activity to poor health and focuses on why people take up and drop out from sport and exercise activities at different life stages.#
Key findings include:
- Almost all primary schoolchildren engage in regular sporting activity – it’s what happens after that stage that is a cause for concern
- Many children drop out of regular activity during the second-level years, especially girls
- School exams have a strong negative impact: students participate less in exam years and this has a lasting effect on whether they are active in later years
- Students who play sport get, on average, better Leaving Certificate results
- Activity as an adult is less related to attitudes and beliefs than to life events: most adults believe sporting activity is good for them and want to be more active, but leaving education, work commitments, relocations and family responsibilities lead many to drop out
- Cycling and, in particular, swimming, are most likely to persist into later adulthood; Gaelic games meanwhile have a high drop-out rate
- New sporting activities are mostly taken up through social connections with friends, colleagues and family members; finding facilities is not a barrier
- These factors lead to a widening socio-economic gap as people progress through adulthood – the less well-off are more likely to drop out from sport as young adults and less likely to take up new activities
The study discusses a number of policy implications.
Speaking at the launch, Kieran Mulvey, Chairperson of the Irish Sports Council said: “The Irish Sports Council has made increasing participation in sport and physical activity a key strategic priority. It is vital that we and our key stakeholders have access to this type of research to underpin our efforts in this regard.”
John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council acknowledged “the thought provoking report which will help us focus in terms of strategic priorities”
Report author Dr. Pete Lunn of the ESRI said: “The findings imply a need to change the way we think about promoting sport and exercise. We are good at getting children involved – it’s keeping people involved as they get older that is the problem. The evidence suggests we could focus more on the major transitions in people’s lives and try to make it easier for them to continue to be active.”
Jan 21, 2014
Michael Ring, Minister of State for Tourism & Sport has published the Heads of the Sport Ireland Bill following approval by the Government today.
The purpose of the Bill is to provide for the establishment of a new statutory sports body, Sport Ireland, which will merge the two existing sports bodies – the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority. The merger of the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority is part of the Government’s programme for the rationalisation of State agencies.
“The Council and the Authority have both served Irish sport well since they were established. However, I believe that a new single streamlined organisation is the best approach for the further development of sport in Ireland, bringing responsibility for the implementation of Irish sports policy under one agency. Sport Ireland will continue the work currently being done by the Council in promoting, developing and co-ordinating sport in Ireland and also the work of the Authority in developing the National Sports Campus at Blanchardstown,” Minister Ring said.
Sport Ireland will take on the relevant functions of the Council and the Authority. The functions are set out in Head 8.
There have been substantial developments in anti-doping initiatives since the Irish Sports Council was established in 1999 and the Bill will include enhanced provisions which will assist Sport Ireland in their fight against doping in sport.
Oireachtas members from across the political spectrum will have an opportunity to shape the Bill as the Minister has submitted the Heads of the Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications for their consideration. The Bill will be drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Minister expects to introduce the Bill in the Oireachtas later in the year.
The Minister had intended that the Sport Ireland Bill would address the regulation of adventure centres by giving Sport Ireland responsibility for establishing and maintaining a register of all adventure centres in the State. However, some issues have arisen which require further consideration and the Minister has decided to address the matter separately from the Sport Ireland Bill. An adventure activities working group established by the Irish Sports Council is examining the issues associated with the regulation of adventure centres and the Minister will make separate proposals on the matter when the group has completed its work.
Link to: General Scheme of Sport Ireland Bill 2014
Jan 18, 2014
Students from St. Joseph’s College in Lucan have been revealed as the winners of this year’s Pumped Schools’ Video Awards, with their production titled “Active Teens, Healthy Hearts”. The Awards aim to encourage young people to get creative about science and health by producing mini-movies on a heart health topic. The Awards are organised by Bayer in partnership with the Irish Heart Foundation and the Federation of Irish Sport, with the winning students each receiving a tablet computer and St. Joseph’s College’s science budget receiving a much welcome cash boost of €5,000. The Awards were presented by pumped.ie Ambassadors, Olympic silver medallist, Kenneth Egan, and Olympic pentathlete, Natalya Coyle. The winning videos can be seen at www.pumped.ie.
Coláiste Éinde in Galway scooped second place in the competition with each team member receiving an iPod Touch, and a team from St Gerard’s School in Bray came third with students being awarded an iPod Nano. The Awards come in the light of research by Behaviour and Attitudes* of 500 teenagers last August that found that three in ten (31%) teens say that they eat a lot of junk food, and 34% that they have soft drinks at least daily.
The winning St. Joseph’s students – Gabrielle Fullam, Tina Ehiguese and Lisa Browne – produced an original rap to a catchy beat to encourage their peers to get active and take up a hobby. The video highlights why exercise is good for the mind, helps people feel happy, unwind, sleep better, and perhaps even get better grades!
Pumped.ie Ambassador and Ireland Olympic Silver Medallist, Kenneth Egan, was delighted to present the winning students with their prizes: “I really believe that it’s important that young people invest time and effort in themselves to gain what I would call ‘life fitness’. The Pumped Schools’ Video Awards point to the importance of getting active and eating a healthy diet if young people are to avoid cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in the future. The videos do this in a way that other young people ‘get’ and the students are to be commended for taking this serious issue and presenting it in a way that gets the audience thinking and talking.”
Dr Angie Brown, Medical Director with the Irish Heart Foundation and Chairperson of the Judging Panel, commented: “Students used every creative means at their disposal – from drama and animation, to music and song – to engage, motivate and stir the audience and shine a spotlight on what is a key issue facing the health of our nation. The judging panel was very impressed by entrants’ creativity and ingenuity, and their depth of knowledge and information on the topic of heart health and that what we eat, being physically active, smoking and our body weight impact on our health. We know that one in five teenagers in Ireland is overweight or obese and that we have the second highest levels of overweight or obesity among children in Europe. So these videos by the young people themselves demonstrate to their peers why it’s vital that they take control of their heart health for a better future and quality of life.”
Conn McCluskey, Support Services Officer, Federation of Irish Sport, added: “The entries for these Awards were of a really high standard and were both entertaining and sobering at the same time. However each video had one common thread and that was the importance of young people eating well, getting out and being active. The research conducted in August of last year among teenagers found that just one in three were able to recall that the national guideline for physical activity is 60 minutes a day for children. We hope that this initiative, and others being adopted, such as the National Physical Activity Plan, will help to start to turn the tide of physical inactivity and obesity and cause young people to take the important messages being communicated, quite literally, to heart.”
Sinéad Duffy, Head of Communications at Bayer, concluded: “For over 150 years, Bayer has been a world leader in developing science for better health and life. Rather than having educational videos to ‘tell’ young people how to live their lives, the Awards give young people a fun opportunity to look into their own hearts and research the science behind heart health for themselves. We know that these years are formative in determining how they live their future lives and how the lifestyle habits that they learn now will stay with them for a long time to come, so it’s really important that they know the hard facts around obesity and heart health.”
About the Irish Heart Foundation
The Irish Heart Foundation is the national charity dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke and it relies on charitable donations for more than 90 per cent of its income. Today in Ireland more people die from heart and stroke-related illnesses than from any other cause of death. Against this background we work to bring hope, relief and a better future to families all over Ireland. We give vital patient support through our Heart & Stroke helpline and we provide high quality public information for all.
We support pioneering medical research, campaign for improved patient care, and promote positive public health strategies. We work in hospitals, schools and workplaces to support, educate and train people to save lives. As a charity, we are dependent on the generosity of the public to continue our vital good work. You can support our work by making a donation, giving of your time to volunteer or by learning the skills needed to save a life through our courses. For more information, visit:
www.irishheart.ie
www.stroke.ie
www.facebook.com/irishheartfoundation
www.twitter.com/irishheart_ie
About Bayer
Innovation for better health. Our commitment is to bring to patients around the world quality medicines for use in diagnosing, combating and preventing disease. Every day we work against time, researching new pathways, new molecules, new technologies – complementing our own capabilities with expertise of innovative partners from science and industry. The success of this work is evidenced in new medicines for areas with significant unmet medical need such as oncology, cardiovascular and blood diseases, as well as gynaecology and ophthalmology. Our aim is a better quality of life for all.
