May 11, 2012
“The Gathering gives each and every one of us an opportunity to do something positive for our country in our own unique way.”
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore have asked every community in Ireland to get involved in The Gathering Ireland 2013, the biggest tourism event ever held in Ireland.
Speaking at the launch today in Dublin Castle, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste also urged businesses, clubs and organisations right across the country to get involved in The Gathering.
An Taoiseach said: ‘This initiative needs the widespread participation of communities and local organisations all across Ireland. The Gathering gives each and every one of us an opportunity to do something positive for our country in our own unique way’.
“It’s all about you, your family, your neighbours, your sports club, your college. Whatever community or group you belong to, we would like you to start planning special events to highlight what is great about that community, and about Ireland.”
The Tánaiste explained that the global Irish diaspora will also be crucial: ‘The Gathering aims to engage with our global diaspora, to entice them to come home in 2013 and to encourage them to extend an invitation to Ireland to others. It’s not just about encouraging anyone with Irish heritage – it is also addressed to those who love or have an interest in Ireland’.
The Gathering Ireland 2013 is being spearheaded by Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar, who outlined a series of new festivals and events being held especially in order to encourage more visitors to Ireland next year. These include a new music festival, international GAA events and a new project from the organisers of Riverdance.
Minister Varadkar said: ‘We are inviting the world to Ireland next year for this festival of festivals. It promises to be the biggest tourism initiative ever staged in Ireland. I want The Gathering to be an event that belongs to everyone in Ireland, and which everyone in Ireland feels part of. If you want help organising your own Gathering, then log on to the new Gathering website at thegatheringireland.com to take advantage of all the available supporting material’.
“The public response from people at home and abroad has been fantastic with ideas for potential gatherings coming in every day. These range from family Gatherings, school reunions and even a gathering of twins. Towns and communities are also pitching in. The Gathering team are receiving queries and offers of help from individuals and organisations throughout the world.”
Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring announced that Gathering Community Meetings will be held around Ireland in the year ahead. Local Gathering organisations are being set up in every county, comprising sporting bodies, cultural and musical organisations, local authorities, and local development companies.
“This is a people’s project. It is extremely important that this initiative is not confined to big cities but is an event that will happen across the country and show off Ireland at its best. Everyone can help by doing something as simple as sending an e-mail or postcard to a relative or friend abroad inviting them to Ireland in 2013,” Minister Ring said.
Community projects already underway include clan gatherings, genealogical projects, and an outreach initiative where local communities will contact people who have left the country. One Irish family which recently returned from the US is already organising an O’Dea clan gathering for 2013.
Kerry and Waterford County Councils have established dedicated local groups to drive the initiative forward and all local authorities have been briefed on The Gathering. Carrick-on Shannon is holding a special town and community gathering to celebrate its 400th birthday next year.
The Gathering was launched internationally by Government Ministers in 27 cities over St Patricks Weekend, and the project team and corporate partners are now firmly in place. A number of well-known Irish personalities have pledged their support, including Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Maeve Binchy and Paul O’Connell.
A large number of companies and organisations have already got involved including Google and Facebook, while KPMG and PwC have confirmed they will hold their international alumni events in Ireland, bringing 1,000 international visitors.
Speaking at the launch today in Dublin Castle, Shaun Quinn, CEO of Fáilte Ireland emphasised: ‘The Gathering has the potential to be a real ‘game-changer’ not just for Irish Tourism but also for Ireland as a whole. The real power of the Gathering lies in its ability to leverage the efforts of any Irish citizen, community group or indeed any diaspora member to roll up their sleeves and take an active part in mobilising behind an initiative to support our national recovery. With a fair wind, many of the seeds planted through events and initiatives at local level all around the nation, will bloom into longer term beneficial networks and opportunities for the country’.
Festivals
A calendar of significant festivals and events will form the spine of The Gathering year, and the aim is to foster a multitude of grass-roots events around these festivals. This calendar is constantly evolving and will see many established festivals being significantly enhanced:
• New Year’s Eve Festival
• St Patrick’s Festival
• Galway Arts Festival and Wexford Opera Festival, Cork Choral Festival, Dublin Horse, Bloom and Temple Bar Tradfest
A number of new festivals and events will also be created exclusively for the Gathering. Discussions are currently taking place around the following:
An International Harvest Gathering – a celebration of Irish food;
love:live music, International Music Day;
A new International GAA event with finals held in Croke Park in August;
A Festival of Football: overseas clubs and players will compete in matches around Ireland;
Bringing Riverdance back home and introducing John McColgan and Moya Doherty’s new show;
A multi-venue Christmas 2013 and New Year’s Festival to end the year with a bang.
Ends
Further information
The Gathering Ireland 2013 aims to be the biggest tourism event ever held in Ireland, bringing in 325,000 extra visitors.
Minister Varadkar has allocated €5 million to Failte Ireland this year to set up the support structure and to market the event.
Tourism Ireland will have specific responsibility for promoting The Gathering in overseas markets.
Fáilte Ireland’s call for 2013 Festival & Events funding applications will issue much earlier this year in order to populate the Gathering Ireland 2013 calendar. A dedicated advertisement is running in national newspapers today announcing the new timeline. Approvals will be made in July and August so that The Gathering calendar can be completed as soon as possible.
Gathering corporate support
A growing list of well-known organisations are now on board. These include the likes of:
• Google,
• Facebook,
• Irish Farmers’ Association,
• GAA,
IRFU,
CCMA – County and City Managers Association representing the 32 local Authorities around Ireland, Irish Local Development Network representing the 52 local development companies,
Scouting Ireland, Chambers Ireland
Irish Country Women’s Association, ICMSA- Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Irish Farmers’ Association
Ireland Reaching Out, Certificate of Irish Heritage, Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann, Conradh Na Gaeilge,
Irish Sports Council, IRFU, FAI, GAA, Horse Racing Ireland
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, KPMG, PwC
Irish Hotels Federation, The Doyle Collection, Manor House hotels of Ireland, Irish Tour Operators Association, Restaurants Association of Ireland, Bed and Breakfast Ireland, All Hallows College, Vintners Federation of Ireland and Good Food Ireland.
Gathering the community
Ultimately, The Gathering’s success will hinge on the participation of the public and the mobilisation of local communities to create their own local events and to utilise their own overseas connections. To assist this central strand of the initiative, the new website is online at www.thegatheringireland.com.
The website provides online supports and ideas for those interested in setting up their own event. It also includes some examples of local The Gathering events underway. These include:
The Ireland Reaching Out project (where volunteers in Irish communities find those who left, or their ancestors, and contact them so that the global Irish community can once again become connected) will run a ‘Week of Welcomes’, from Donegal to Kerry – during one such week last year in Galway, visitors attended history lectures, genealogy sessions, took trips to the parishes where they hailed from, attended a hurling match and were even guests at a local wedding;
The O’Dea Clan Gathering is planned by James O’Dea who, along with his wife Anola, returned home in the 1980s from Wisconsin Rapids, USA to County Clare and restored the ancestral home of Dysert O’Dea Castle where they will host a great gathering of O’Deas in 2013;
People are now being urged to pitch their ideas and events via the new website and the number, date and location of these will be plotted on a map online as they come in. The number of events is expected to gather apace following nationwide workshops which will take place in communities around the country throughout the summer.
May 3, 2012
‘Genuine Prospects’
The Irish Sailing Association today (Thursday, 3rd May 2012) announced that Providence Resources P.l.c., the Irish oil and gas exploration and production company, are to sponsor the Irish Olympic Sailing Team. The sponsorship will enable the team to undertake worldclass preparations in advance of London 2012 and beyond.
The Irish Olympic Sailing Team are considered ‘Genuine Prospects’ for a medal in the London 2012 Games. Providence Resources have also identified ‘Genuine Prospects’ offshore Ireland, with the largest multi-basin drilling campaign in the history of the state currently underway.
The Olympic sailing team members include:
Annalise Murphy, Laser (Radial)
Peter O’Leary & David Burrows, (Star)
Ryan Seaton & Matt McGovern, (49er)
A further three campaigns will be competing for Olympic qualification during May including Gerbil Owens and Scott Flanigan (470), James Espey (Laser) and Ross Hamilton (Finn)
The partnership was launched today in Dublin by Olympic Sailor Annalise Murphy and Providence Resources Chief Executive, Tony O’Reilly.
Announcing the Sponsorship Olympic Sailor, Annalise Murphy said:
“This is great news for the team. This support has given the whole team a huge boost in our preparations for London 2012. We have a very busy schedule of training and events between now and then. There is huge excitement in the build up to the Games and we are looking forward to focussing on our performance”.
Tony O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Providence Resources P.l.c., said:
“Providence Resources are proud and delighted to sponsor the Irish Olympic Sailing Team ‘Genuine Prospects’ for 2012, including their preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games. We believe they have “Genuine Prospects” for a medal, which would be great news for Ireland, and we encourage everybody to get behind the Irish Sailing Team”.
Irish Sailing Association Performance Director, James O’Callaghan, said:
“We would like to thank Providence Resources for their support for the team and we look forward to working together to achieve our common goal. . ..This is the first time the Olympic Sailing Team has worked with a title sponsor and we very much appreciate the boost this sponsorship has given our London 2012 preparations”.
Apr 26, 2012
Setanta Sports Ireland has secured the TV rights to ensure live coverage of the Paralympic Games for the first time in Ireland.
All coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games will be broadcast on a freeview basis on the Setanta Ireland channel.
At a launch in Irishtown Stadium today, Setanta Sports Ireland confirmed that they will be showing live coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Setanta Sports also confirmed that they will be showing this coverage on a ‘freeview’ basis on Setanta Ireland. This means that the coverage on the Setanta Ireland channel on satellite will be unencrypted so that all viewers in Sky homes will have free access to the channel whether they are a Setanta subscriber or not. This combined with the Setanta Ireland channel being free on UPC and the Setanta player being available in all eircom broadband homes means that approximately 1.3 million households will be able to view the games.
Present at the launch were five Irish Paralympic athletes who are targeting success at London 2012. Mark Rohan, Orla Barry, Padraic Moran, Eimear Breathnach and Darragh McDonald were delighted to know that those friends and family who won’t be able to make it to London will still have a chance to see them compete.
Brian Quinn Marketing Director of Setanta Sports commented “We are delighted to be broadcasting the games on a freeview basis. This means that the majority of Irish households will be able to follow the Irish performances. I would like to pay tribute to Allianz for their support. They are not simply a sponsor of our coverage, they have played a far bigger role than that. Without them live Paralympics TV coverage would not be seen in Ireland. We appreciate their vision and are very thankful to have the opportunity to bring live coverage to the friends, families and fans of Irish Paralympians.”
Brendan Murphy CEO of Allianz Ireland added “For the first time ever Irish audiences will witness the achievements of Team Ireland as they happen, which for Allianz, as a long-time partner of the Paralympic Movement, was seen as a fundamental need in the Irish market. By supporting Paralympics Ireland and Irish athletes, Allianz supports their quest for medals but also, through our association with Setanta, to drive awareness of the Paralympic movement and provide live, real time access to all that is achieved.”
Liam Harbison CEO of Paralympics Ireland is delighted with the extra coverage “This is a momentous announcement for Irish Paralympic sport. The Irish Team are on the cusp of great success at London 2012 and we’re thrilled that the support of Setanta and Allianz will allow the Irish public to view, admire and be inspired by the achievements of Ireland’s elite Paralympians. Paralympic sport at the top level is exciting, gripping and ferociously competitive – we look forward to Setanta bringing this to Irish sports fans.”
Apr 19, 2012
Senator Eamonn Coghlan and chief executive of the Irish Sports Council John Treacy will address the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children tomorrow, 19th April on the issue of tackling childhood obesity through sport.
Committee Chairman, Jerry Buttimer TD said: “Senator Eamonn Coghlan and John Treacy are among Ireland’s most successful and celebrated athletes and both continue to have a huge interest in athletics and promoting healthy lifestyles, particularly by encouraging young people to participate in sport.
The recent Growing up in Ireland report on obesity in children makes for grim reading as it highlighted a huge problem with the matter and found that obesity in Irish children is higher than in many northern European countries.
That study found that Irish children are becoming more obese and that this was creating serious health risks for the future. It highlighted that by the age of 19, 19% of Irish children are overweight and that 26% of Irish children were outside the healthy range for their weight.
Apart from the huge health and personal issues that are being stored up for the future, there will also be a big economic burden from treating the effects of obesity in coming years. This is now a serious health concern that needs to be dealt with urgently.
Both Senator Coghlan and Mr Treacy have a strong interest in, and ideas about, how to tackle obesity through the promotion of sport and recreation. The Committee is looking forward to meeting them tomorrow to get their perspectives on the issue and discuss in detail their views and ideas on dealing with the issue of childhood obesity.
The meeting takes place tomorrow, Thursday, 19th April, 11.30am in Committee Room 2, LH 2000. Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://bit.ly/24YmPI
Apr 12, 2012
Spurred on by the growth of members, clubs and events, TI is currently recruiting for a Development Officer on a fixed term contract to support its affiliated clubs as the sport continues to grow.
On the back of a large growth in the number of members, clubs and events this post-holder’s primary responsibility will be to promote and strengthen participation and development through the network of triathlon clubs in the Republic of Ireland, similar to the work that has been recently undertaken in Northern Ireland by Development Officer Johnny Davis.
2011 was another pivotal year in the growth and development of Triathlon Ireland. Membership has grown well over 6000+ members, and the number of clubs affiliated to TI now numbers nearly 70!
Responding to this rapid growth has provided many challenges for the organisation. As such, we are seeking an additional staff member on a fixed term full-time basis to ensure the continued growth and development of the sport, and as such, the quality of service to our clubs and our wider membership.
About the Role
The Development Officer will be based in TI’s Kilmacanogue office, and some travel as well as weekend and out of hours work will be required. Reporting directly to the CEO, the successful applicant will work alongside the existing TI Administration Officers, the NI Development Officer and with TI regional coaches, and as such will need to demonstrate the ability to work both independently and effectively as part of a small office team.
The role is initially available for a six month term, though extension may be offered subject to satisfactory performance of the successful applicant, and the 2013 funding budget of the organisation.
The salary offered for the position will be circa$26-28K/annum , depending on the qualifications, skills and experience of the successful applicant.
Additional information is contained in the Position Description and Personnel Specification found here
Recruitment Timeline
Recruitment for this position will involve a merit-based, transparent and open process. A three person selection panel will assess all applications and conduct interviews of the short-listed candidates.
5pm 18 April 2012: Applications Close
19-20 April 2012: Short-listing of Applicants
23-24 April 2012: Notification to short-listed applicants for interview.
25-27 April 2012: Interviews Held
Early May: Successful Applicant Announced.
How to Apply?
Please email your application to ceo@triathlonireland.com by 5pm, 18 April 2012.
Please include a covering letter of not more than 1 page, a CV detailing your skills and experience relevant to the position and a 2-3 page document adressing the selection criteria in the Position Description.
Enquiries
Any queries regarding the role, after reading the Position Description, can be directed to Matt McKerrow on +353833847569 or on ceo@triathlonireland.com
