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?
Ends.
Contact Gary Stewart for comment gm@volleyballireland.com 0857650867
Notes:
Dropbox link to imagery: https://www.dropbox.com/t/KibwoZHmjhpApH2G
Nov 25, 2020
Volleyball Ireland has revealed a new logo, brand identity and website that represents a break from traditional sporting body branding.
The VLY. Concept puts Volleyball itself, rather than the administrative body that governs it, to the forefront. Using an abbreviation rather than an acronym, is a key differentiator that stands Volleyball Ireland out from the crowd.
General Manager of Volleyball Ireland, Gary Stewart said. “Our primary role is to govern and promote the sport, and when you have a sport like Volleyball, it makes sense to put it at the front and centre of everything you do. It shows we are proud of our game and what it represents. The sport is our brand and we want to celebrate that.”
The branding project came about following a competition ran in collaboration between marketing agency Branding Sport and online media company Sport for Business, which led to one sports body being given a full brand makeover.
Patrick Murphy of Branding Sport added, “We discovered that Volleyball in Ireland has a really interesting story to tell. On top of that, the team at Volleyball Ireland were very keen to develop a standout brand identity for a sport that is full of colour, energy and vibrancy. We’re very happy that the new identity delivers against the ambitions of Volleyball Ireland and is a fresh start in promoting the sport in a modern, energetic way that we believe will appeal to the right audience.”
Coinciding with the brand launch is the introduction of a new website developed by former International player and current Dublin Volleyball Club star Cillian Bracken of Vine Digital Ireland. The website, like the brand puts volleyball first and foremost with more focus on club activity and participation opportunities.
Key notes related to the brand rationale:
Youthful: The marque is intentionally youthful. The key strategic aim of Volleyball Ireland is to strengthen the pathway from school to club to national team, to grow participation in colleges and to develop volleyball programmes nationwide. With over 900 school teams competing in Volleyball Ireland competitions and a newly formed youth national league, having a clear and progressive pathway for participation and performance is a key priority for the organisation..
Energetic, dramatic & fun: Volleyball is fiercely athletic & dramatic, where every point is an event. Both on the court and on the sand, the sport is great fun to play. The shaping of the VLY logo represents the athletic, twisting and stretching movements that are prevalent in Volleyball.
Equality: Volleyball is one of the few sports where male/female participation is relatively equal. In Ireland, 62% of players are women or girls. Volleyball Ireland’s board and sub-committees have equal representation with 62% of board/committee members being female. This is important to us. The brand is intentionally gender neutral, to represent it’s membership.
Multi-cultural: 74% of adult volleyball players in Ireland are foreign nationals, coming from 64 different nationalities. The colour palette is purposely neutral to represent all of our members and the global community that exists in the Irish volleyball community.
Ambitious: To be truly ambitious you have to be different, you have to stand out from the crowd. The new brand isn’t afraid to do that, it’s bold and it’s dramatic – just like Volleyball.
ENDS.
Notes:
Branding Sport is a creative agency that specialises in developing brand identities for sports organisations. The team at Branding Sport have previously worked with the likes of the European Tour,
Leinster Rugby, Rory McIlroy & the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
Sport For Business is a publishing, networking and events company that connects the worlds of sport & business together.
Vine Digital Ireland is a digital marketing agency based in co. Kildare, led by former International Volleyball player Cillian Bracken.
Nov 16, 2020
Fingal Sports Office and the Tyrrelstown/Mulhuddart Community Sports Hub presents the first Live Online Session in Fingal’s Women in Sport Coaching Series Thursday 26th of November at 7 p.m. The first guest coach is Suzanne Maguire, Irish International Basketballer and Coach. Suzanne will be in conversation with Cliona Foley renowned freelance Sportswriter and Presenter of Women’s Sport podcast “Off the Bench”. Suzanne Maguire is a Fordham University Hall of Famer and is currently playing D1 basketball with Liffey Celtics. The Women in Sport Coaching Series aims to encourage women and young girls to get involved in coaching primarily or in Sport in general. This Series is one of Fingal Sports Office initiatives to support Federation of Irish Sport 20X20 campaign.
Please Register here
Nov 3, 2020
Shane Ryan swam a second Irish Senior Record in as many days as he cruised to a new national standard in the 100m Backstroke on the second day of Match 3 at the International Swimming League in Budapest, Hungary.
Ryan, who had broken the 100m Butterfly Irish Record yesterday in 50.53, added the 100m Backstroke today in a time of 50.22, knocking .19 off his own record of 50.41 set at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow in 2019.
Tokyo Frog Kings Ryosuke Irie won the event in 49.91, while Ryan Murphy, who tied with Ryan to win the 50m Backstroke yesterday, was third in 50.42.
Soon after, the Rio 2016 Olympian was back in the pool for the 50m Butterfly where he was just one hundredth of a second off his own 50m Butterfly Irish Record of 22.96, touching in 22.97.
Ryan concluded his first Match of the season in the 50m Backstroke Skins* finishing second in the first round in 23.13 and third in round two in 24.15.
Ryan and the Toronto Titans return to action on November 1st and 2nd while Darragh Greene’s London Roar are back in the pool, after a two-week break, on October 30th and 31st.
ISL Match 3 – Final Standings
LA Current 535.5
Tokyo Frog Kings 506.5
Toronto Titans 401
Aqua Centurions 260
About the International Swimming League (ISL)
Now in its second year, the ISL will bring 315 swimmers from 48 countries to Budapest, Hungary for eight weeks in October/November.
Athletes are split across ten teams; Cali Condors (California), Team Iron (Budapest), Tokyo Frog Kings, London Roar, DC Trident (Washington DC), New York Breakers, Toronto Titans, LA Current, Aqua Centurions (Italy) and Energy Standard (Ukraine).
The teams will face off against each other in a series of ten matches from October 16th to November 14th. Semi-Finals will take place for the top eight teams from 19th – 22nd November, while the Final, made up of four teams, will be November 21st and 22nd.
Ireland have two swimmers competing, Darragh Greene for London Roar and Shane Ryan for Toronto Titans.
*Skins Race
A Skins race is an exciting series of back-to-back races which operate on a knockout basis, with the two remaining swimmers racing each other in a head-to-head final race.
