Dec 14, 2020
The successful and enjoyable 21 Day walk/push challenge saw over 100 registrations take part. IWA Sport partnered with Get Ireland Walking with the aim to turn members leisurely walks or pushes into a habit in three weeks. Kicking off the month of November with a brilliant challenge, over 100 registered pushers and walkers received activity packs to help with this challenge. We had participants from all over Ireland including Kinsale, Dundalk, Listowel and Navan, to name a few. We also engaged with a number of new people who we haven’t previously and it showed the appetite out there for different forms of physical activity
Participants and members did a fantastic job at keeping the 21-day walk/ push challenge Facebook group active. Each day members posted selfies as well as snapshots of times and distances. We were also treated to lovely images of different scenery and even some fluffy friends accompanied people on their walk/ push. During a time where were encouraged to stay apart this virtual challenge really brought people together and a sense of community to all involved. Stay tuned on the IWA-Sport Facebook page for more challenges like this in 2021.
Dec 10, 2020
The Keep Well campaign is aimed at showing people of all ages how we can mind our own physical and mental health and wellbeing by adding healthy and helpful habits to our daily and weekly routine.
Sport Ireland, Get Ireland Walking and Healthy Ireland are encouraging people of all ages to walk into 2021 by taking part in the Keep Well Walking Challenge, which gets underway today.
Walking is the most accessible form of physical activity with no special equipment or locations required. Sport Ireland, Get Ireland Walking and Healthy Ireland are looking to get as many people as possible out and active for at least 30 minutes a day for the remaining 21 days of December, bringing a healthy habit forward to the New Year.
To support this, Get Ireland Walking has produced a new app that will allow users to keep a record of their walking and help all participants to stay motivated. The handy app will provide useful tips on advice on how to build walking into every day routines. It can be downloaded at getirelandwalking.ie/app.
As part of the 21-day campaign, well-known people from across Ireland will share their favourite walk of 2020, whether it is a socially distanced walk with a loved-one or simply a lunchtime escape from the bedroom office.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD said: “The benefits of physical activity are undisputed and walking is the most accessible form of physical activity available. I am delighted to say that I will be taking part in the Keep Well Walking Challenge and have already downloaded the app to help keep me motivated and track my progress through the month of December.”
Minister for State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Sport Jack Chambers TD added: “Walking is a brilliant form of physical activity that is accessible to all and despite everything that has happened it 2020 it was wonderful to see the numbers of people that have become involved in recreational walking – it’s a great sign for the health of the nation. The Keep Well Walking Challenge will help keep people active right up to the end of the year and we are delighted to be able to launch it today.”
Frank Feighan TD, Minister of State for Public Health and Wellbeing added: “I’m absolutely delighted to support this great initiative as part of the Healthy Ireland Keep Well campaign. I firmly believe that the ‘Get Ireland Walking App’, launched today, will be a very helpful tool in helping people to remember to get out and about and to do some physical activity every day. I encourage everyone to take on this challenge for the last 21 days of the year and make sure that they are starting the new year off on a good footing. So let’s all try and contact our friends and family members to help with the challenge, lace up those shoes, pull on that coat and get out walking”.
John Treacy, Chief Executive Sport Ireland commented: “It is hugely encouraging to see that the levels of recreational walking in Ireland are higher than ever. Physical activity is vital for the health of the nation, mental as well as physical, and one of the positives to come out of 2020 is that people now recognise the importance of physical activity as part of their daily lives. The Keep Well Walking Challenge and the new app will further help walking become part of people’s habits.”
Jason King, National Programme Manager Get Ireland Walking commented: “The benefits of walking cannot be underestimated both for individuals and the country as a whole. We really think that the Get Ireland Walking app will help keep people motivated through December, a time when people can become a little less active, and help them approach 2021 in a positive frame of mind and in good health – mental and physical.”
The Keep Well Walking Challenge is part of Keep Well. The Keep Well campaign is aimed at showing people of all ages how we can mind our own physical and mental health and wellbeing by adding healthy and helpful habits to our daily and weekly routines. It provides guidelines, information, and tips on how we can make a plan to do things that will help us keep well through the coming months.
www.sportireland.ie
https://www.getirelandwalking.ie/
getirelandwalking.ie/app
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For further information contact:
Peter Sweeney – peter.sweeney@teneo.com / 086 929 3041
Dec 9, 2020
Calls on Government to speed up the process
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has welcomed the Government’s ‘Action Plan for Insurance Reform’ (published today by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Investment’s Sub-Group on Insurance Reform), while expressing concern at the timelines involved.
Commenting on the release of the plan, Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said “As a declaration of intent, this plan ticks all the boxes. But progress on real insurance reform has happened at a snail’s pace and the majority of the proposals in the Action Plan have been doing the rounds since the start of 2017. That is 4 years of unsustainably high insurance premiums closing down businesses and stopping voluntary groups from doing what they volunteered to do. We call on the Government to not treat the timelines in this plan as targets to be aimed for. Rather we urge them to speed up the pace of reforms to beat these timelines and allow businesses and society in general to reopen after Covid19 without insurance costs hanging over their heads.”
Actions and timelines committed to in the Plan include:
- Report on the implementation and early impact of the new personal injury guidelines to be adopted in July 2021 by the Judicial Council– December 2021
- Ensuring that fraudulent claims are forwarded to the DPP – December 2021
- Implementation of recommendations regarding the publishing of insurance fraud data – December 2021
- Central Bank supervision of the insurance industry’s response to business interruption claims by SMEs – ‘Ongoing’ – no deadline
- Proposals to Government on implementation of ‘any changes deemed necessary’ to Occupiers Liability Act with regard to the duty of care – June 2021
- Legislative proposals on reform of the role of PIAB – June 2021
- Publication of Central Bank data on liability insurance – June 2021
Peter Boland, director of the Alliance said “In the last 4 years we have had the Oireachtas Finance Committee Report on Insurance Costs, two Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) reports and 11 CIWG Updates; and the reports of the Personal Injuries Commission. Many of the meaningful actions in these reports experienced slippage or did not happen at all and the reality is that no reform that has happened so far has applied downward pressure on insurance costs. The actions in this report must not be allowed to be dragged out in the same way.”
ENDS
FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT:
Peter Boland
Dec 8, 2020
Swim Ireland today launches a new affinity programme for their members and employees in partnership with FBD Insurance.
This new programme will provide Swim Ireland members with the opportunity to avail of preferential rates and discounts on car and home insurance from the country’s largest Irish owned insurer.
The launch of the partnership with FBD cements Swim Ireland’s ongoing commitment to supporting its members and FBD’s commitment to supporting Irish communities. By offering a suite of privileged rates and discounts, it adds a new level to membership particularly at a financially challenging time for many. For FBD it affords them a wonderful opportunity to first partner with a leading National Sporting Governing Body but also the prospect of enhancing its customer base.
On today’s launch, Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane commented “We are delighted to be partnering with FBD in launching our new member affinity programme. This is a great opportunity for both organisations and we look forward to working closely with the team and to develop further opportunities for our members who are so important to us.”
FBD Insurance Chief Commercial Officer, John Cahalan added: “We are delighted to launch an affinity programme for members and employees of Swim Ireland. As Ireland’s leading community insurer we understand the importance of supporting grassroots members and the pivotal role that sport plays in people’s emotional & physical wellbeing.”
Further information on the affinity programme is available at www.fbd.ie/affinity/swim-ireland/
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Dec 7, 2020
Calls for urgent and radical reform to strengthen the Board’s role
The Alliance for Insurance Reform today met Minister of State Robert Troy, the Minister whose delegated responsibilities include the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB); and expressed its alarm at the publication of data by the Central Bank which shows the percentage of motor insurance personal injury claims settled by PIAB has fallen to only 14%.
Commenting prior to the meeting, Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said “When PIAB was launched in 2004, it had a profound and immediate impact on insurance costs as was intended. But it has been undermined since then to the extent that far more cases now go to litigation, with no benefit for plaintiffs but enormous fees for solicitors and barristers.”
Peter Boland, director of the Alliance said “If urgent and radical reform of PIAB is not carried out, it will be irrelevant within a decade and we will be back to a situation where the compensation of people injured due to the negligence of others will be a process managed and controlled by the legal profession, for the benefit of the legal profession, with dire consequences for the cost and availability of insurance cover in Ireland. It is up to the Minister to address this issue now and we call on him to publish detailed reform proposals and most importantly, to follow through on those proposals, as a matter of extreme urgency.”
ENDS
NOTE: The 14% figure quoted in this release comes from Figure 13, on page 28 of the Private Motor Insurance Report 2 National Claims Information Database published on Tuesday 3rd November.
ATTACHMENT: PIAB_screenshot1.jpg image from today’s meeting. Those pictured include (L to R and top to bottom):
Peter Boland, Alliance for Insurance Reform
Robert Troy, Minister of State with responsibility for Trade Promotion at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Adrian Cummins, Restaurant Association of Ireland
Anne Barrett, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Duncan Graham, Retail Excellence
Brendan Kenny, Ireland’s Association for Adventure Tourism
Colin Croffy, Association of Irish Festival Events
Con Quill, Irish Caravan and Camping Council
Pat Dawson, Irish Travel Agents Association
Gerry Monks, Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association
Ivan Cooper, The Wheel
John McGrane, Family Business Network Ireland
Neil McDonnell, ISME
Padraig Cribben, Vintners Federation of Ireland
Tadhg Daly, Nursing Homes Ireland
Tara Buckley, RGDATA
Tracy Sheridan, Play Activity and Leisure Ireland
Una May, Sport Ireland
Vincent Jennings, Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association
Dec 3, 2020
Three time Gold Medallist Kerri Walsh Jennings is the latest guest on Volleyball Ireland’s Inspiring Players Series
Volleyball Ireland are delighted to announce that the next guest on our Inspiring Players Series is Kerri Walsh Jennings – unarguably the greatest beach volleyball player of all time.
The Californian will be sharing some insights and experiences of her unrivalled career, where she claimed three Olympic Gold Medals, three consecutive World Championships and 112 consecutive victories with partner Misty May Treanor, which spanned a record 19 different events. Kerri Walsh is also the top earning female Beach Volleyball player of all time win over €2.5m in tournament winnings.
Announcing the event Kerri said, “As a proud American of Irish descent, I am honoured and a bit giddy about this upcoming experience with Volleyball Ireland. One of the biggest gifts of my 30 years of experience has been the wisdom I’ve earned and certainly the biggest gift of all the heartache and pain I’ve endured, is that I get to share that insight and those learnings with other athletes who can learn from it as well … in a less painful way.
The event will be broadcast live on Volleyball Ireland’s YouTube Channel on Monday December 7th, 8pm with members of the Volleyball Ireland community invited to submit questions to Kerri in advance via gm@volleyballireland.com (Subject: Kerri Qs). The chat is ideally aimed at players, coaches and parents alike.
Kerri added, “This will be great fun and I’m excited for the athletes, coaches, parents and anyone who is a high performing human (or an aspiring one!) to join us. Bring your questions! I’m ALL YOURS !!!”
Kerri is currently working towards the re-scheduled 2021 Tokyo Olympics Games with new partner Brooke Sweat, alongside her vocation of motivating and inspiring athletes of tomorrow through her online platform p1440. We highly recommend you check it out.
There are only 1,440 minutes in each day, how will you use yours today?
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Contact Gary Stewart for comment gm@volleyballireland.com 0857650867
Notes:
Dropbox link to imagery: https://www.dropbox.com/t/KibwoZHmjhpApH2G
