Feb 18, 2019
The Angling Council Ireland is delighted to announce that the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers men’s Senior Shore Angling Championship Team have won World silver medals in South Africa. It is a fantastic result and just highlights the efforts and successes of the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers. They really are a credit to Sport in Ireland and are one of the most consistent world medal winners in our country. IFSA ladies have also had a very good championship but were unfortunately not in the medal positions on this occasion.
The Confederation Internationale De La Peche Sportive (FIPS Mer.), WORLD GAMES SHORE ANGLING CHAMPIONSHIPS was held in Langebann, South Africa, from the 08.02.2019 to the 15. 02.19. Teams from 18 nations took park in this prestigious event.
The IFSA men’s team consisted of Aidan O Halloran (Limerick) Captain, Albert Allen, (Dublin), Joe Carley (Wexford) JP Molloy (Waterford) Richard Gormley (Kerry) and Willie Weir from (Antrim). Team manager was John O Brien from Waterford and Assistant Manager Sean Ivory from Dublin.
In 2010 the IFSA men’s shore team won gold in South Africa, JP Molloy and John O Brien above were also part of that world gold medal winning team.
Ladies team Manager was Jim Snoddy from Belfast, Assistant Manager Johnny Snoddy Newtownabbey, the team members were Pat Shortt (Captain) Wicklow, Rosaleene Murphy (Dublin), Janet Snoddy and Lisa Gormley from Belfast, Linda Manton (Clare) and Tracey Whelan from Waterford. The ladies team finished in 9th position overall, well done to all.
The men’s team will arrive back in Dublin airport on Monday next at 11.30.
The support received from Sport Ireland, Coaching Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland and Sport Capital Grants helps the ACI to work with our affiliated federations. It has energised our voluntary members to work even harder to encourage more angling participation by all with a focus on youth. We want to ensure everyone can enjoy all the benefits of angling, an outdoor activity with a difference.
Anglers contribute over €750 million every year. Recreational angling is a vital economic activity in Ireland, supporting 11,000 jobs and bringing €750 million to the economy every year. (ESRI 2016)
For Media Enquiries:
Joe Birney
Sport HQ
National Sports Campus
Blanchardstown
Dublin 15
P 0035301 6251132 M 00353 867902288 W www.anglingcouncil.ie
Notes for the Editor:
The Angling Council of Ireland is the Angling National Governing Body registered with Sport Ireland and Coaching Ireland.
Feb 6, 2019
The Federation of Irish Sport is pleased to welcome the Sport Ireland confirmation of the allocation of increased funding which was originally announced for Budget 2019. The announcement and confirmation of funding distribution is an important first step towards implementing the National Sports Policy and continuing to support all those who provide sporting and physical activity opportunities in Ireland.
While the Federation is delighted to welcome the increases across the board, we are particularly delighted to welcome the additional funding for our members. Today is not only a good day for Sport in Ireland but an important one. I am really pleased to see the increases distributed to our member NGBs and LSPs who have worked so tirelessly year in year out to deliver the highest results and innovative programmes within their sport. I am delighted to see not only their hard work highlighted but also the undeniable role they play in delivering Sport and physical activity in Ireland recognised by both Minister Griffin and Sport Ireland today.
The Federation would like to also highlight and commend the investment announced for Sport Inclusion Disability Officers within the LSPs. This is a real recognition of the commitment of the Government and Sport Ireland to the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in sport and physical activity.
The Federation will continue to listen to and advocate on behalf of all our members and look forward to more positive days for Sport and physical activity in Ireland in the months and years ahead.
For full detail on breakdown of funding see here
Statement from Mary O’Connor CEO Federation of Irish Sport
Jan 28, 2019
- UEFA Experts to share learnings across many aspects of developing a successful sport
- Topics include digital engagement, participation, sponsorship, strategic communications and the growth of women’s sport
- Federation urges all National Governing Bodies, Local Sports Partnerships and those responsible for the administration of sport in Ireland to attend
The Federation of Irish Sport is partnering with UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, in an initiative which will see UEFA experts share their experience and knowledge in sporting organisational development. Their success across a number of areas has seen the sport of football grow both at national and European level. On March 1st, UEFA and the Federation will jointly host a full day conference at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. At that conference UEFA experts share their learnings on a wide range of topics all aimed at growing a sport. The conference is open to all.
Speaking about the conference Mary O’Connor CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport said:
“This really is a unique opportunity to learn from an organisation that has been hugely successful at growing the sport of football throughout Europe. The Federation of Irish Sport approached UEFA through the FAI and they were delighted to share their vast experience on their approaches to strategically & systematically developing their sport.”
“Well known for major competitions such as the UEFA Champions League and the EURO’s, this conference focuses much more on how UEFA lead and support their network and regions to develop football in a tailored fashion and their plans to continue evolving this in the coming years.”
This is a conference for all involved in organising and growing sport in Ireland”
Speaking on behalf of UEFA and the FAI John Delaney, CEO of the FAI and UEFA EXCO Member, said that he was delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the Federation,
“The FAI has been affiliated to UEFA since their establishment in 1954. We have seen it grow into one of sports most successful governing bodies in the world. Today it comprises 55 National Governing Bodies from all over Europe whom have the opportunity to draw on UEFA’s fantastic experience across a wide variety of services.”
“This Conference will share that expertise with a wider audience and I have absolutely no doubt that no matter what the sport there will be UEFA learnings that can enhance what they do. I am really looking forward to being part of the day”
UEFA expert sessions on the day will include:
Strategic Growth, Speaker: Noel Mooney, Head of National Associations Business Development, UEFA
Insights & Intelligence, Speaker: Manuel Ruess, National Associations Business Development Coordinator, UEFA
Engagement, Speaker: Richard Ayers, UEFA GROW Mentor (Digital)
Data & Relationship Management, Speaker: Fiona Green, UEFA GROW Mentor (CRM)
Commercial Revenues, Speaker: Tom Liston, UEFA GROW Mentor (Commercial)
Strategic Communications, Speaker: Amanda Docherty, UEFA GROW Mentor (Communications)
Participation, Speakers: Liam Mc Groarty, Business Development Manager UEFA & Polly Bancroft,Business Development Coordinator UEFA
Women’s football growth, Speaker: Polly Bancroft, Business Development Coordinator UEFA
Public Affairs, Speakers: Monica Golding & Tim Crabbe, UEFA GROW Mentors (Public Affairs)
Building a federation, Speakers: John Delaney, UEFA EXCO member & FAI CEO. Razvan Burleanu, Romanian Football Federation President.
Tickets are available here
Jan 23, 2019
Volleyball Ireland has launched a new strategic plan. Raising the Game maps out the vision, mission and strategic objectives that will guide the development of Volleyball in Ireland over the next four years.
The overarching vision is to create a vibrant volleyball community that allows all clubs, players and officials to reach their potential. The strategy is ambitious with significant growth targets including a 50% increase in the number of licensed players and coaches.
Raising the Game is divided into five key strategic areas; Raising Participation, Raising Operational Standards, Raising Performance, Raising the Profile and FundRaising & Finance. These pillars provide a clear focus with substantial actions and hard targets providing a detailed and transparent approach to planning the next four years.
Over 9,000 school children currently play competitive Volleyball through an impressive schools calendar – the key focus of Raising the Game is to develop pathways for those pupils to join Volleyball clubs and create a vibrant community of exciting competitions.
Highlights of the plan include;
• Host major international Volleyball events that will raise the profile of the sport
• Raise participation of the Youth National League programme by 300%
• Increase the number of school teams competing in National competitions to over 1,100
• Establish 4 x Sitting Volleyball Centres for people with a physical disability
• Employment of a development officer with a focus on Inclusion
• Full roll out of the Volleyball ClubMark programme
• Develop a long term player development plan
• Implementation of a High Performance strategy to improve the performance of National Teams
• Development of a Social Volley programme that targets recreational players and beginners in the community and workplace
• Increase participation in the National Beach Tour to over 300 players
• Work with local authorities and landlords to develop quality facilities
• Creation of a Higher Education Volleyball Officer programme to inspire participation in third level colleges and institutions
A core belief of Volleyball Ireland is that Volleyball is for life. With that in mind the NGB has been rolling out a number of new programmes that will provide life long participation in the sport, including the popular Chair Volleyball developed in partnership with Age & Opportunity. As well as the Mini Spikers physical literacy initiative for 5-8year olds.
Strategy lead and board member Jeff King said, “Make no mistake this plan has ambitious targets. It will place Volleyball as one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland and through our inclusion programmes we hope to be an exemplar amongst other National Governing Bodies of Sport.”
President of Volleyball Ireland Grainne Culliton added, “Our Strategy is ambitious, challenging and exciting. It will leave a legacy for a strong and vibrant Volleyball Ireland. Putting the emphasis on club development and supporting exciting competitions will help us grow the sport and improve performance.”
Gary Stewart, General Manager of Volleyball Ireland commented, “We’ve produced a really detailed and transparent map that will guide us over the coming years. What we’ve demonstrated here is we aren’t afraid to challenge ourselves put hard numbers against our objectives. There is huge potential in Irish Volleyball and over the next four years we will develop a significant programme that will allow everyone regardless of age, background or ability to reach their potential.”
Volleyball Ireland has already began working on some key targets with the recent announcement they will be hosting an Olympic Qualifier in Beach Volleyball this June in Bettystown, Co. Meath.
Ends.
Recent achievements for Volleyball Ireland;
• Received 30k in Dormant Accounts funding to develop inclusion programmes with key partners
• Received 23k in funding to employ an Aspire Graduate to support the development of the HEVO programme
• Participated in their first Youth European Championships. The girls u16s were competitive throughout the event in the Faroe Islands before beating Iceland 3-1.
• Awarded the first stage of the Beach Volleyball Continental Cup – an Olympic Qualifier.
• Dublin City Council awarded 65k to develop an inland beach volleyball court in Clontarf.
For more info please contact;
Gary Stewart, General Manager 0873963338 gm@volleyballireland.com
Jan 22, 2019
The Federation were pleased to host representatives of the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport at a sold out briefing session on the 22nd of January. The topic of the day was the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund which is making €100million available for large scale projects over the next 10 years. The fund is accepting applications from National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships between now and April 17th 2019.
The Federation was delighted to welcome a full house to the National Sports Campus Conference Centre for the briefing. Governing bodies, local sports partnerships and county councils all attended and had the opportunity to seek clarity around the application process and ask any burning questions of the department’s representatives.
Noel Sheehan outlined the reasons behind the establishment of the fund and its relationship to the Sports Capital Programme which has been a huge success at local and regional level.
The new fund was created in order to provide the same level of access and transparency around projects where the minimum Government investment would be €300,000 up to a maximum of €30 million on projects of up to €100 million.
Donal Hanigan then went through the specifics of the fund including details on the required ownership of the land and the ability for the government to place a charge on that land as part of the funding transaction.
Multi-sport use and collaboration were once more to the fore in terms of how each of the projects would be assessed and there was a strong sense that producing new facilities that would merely replicate existing ones would not be a favoured approach.
The objectives of the fund are aligned to those of the National Sports Policy. These include increasing active and social participation in sport and the quality of that participation as well as to improve high-performance levels and to increase access to sport for those with disability.
The amount of money on offer has been pitched at a minimum of €100 million over the coming years but as projects came forward that could yet rise in line with further commitments under the Ireland 2040 Capital investment programme.
There are two streams of funding, the first towards covering from design to tender and the second towards construction.
While Universities and third level colleges are not specifically included in the round, proposals which may incorporate them in partnership with National Governing Bodies and Local authorities will be considered.
For further information on the fund and application process please see here http://www.dttas.ie/sport/english/large-scale-sport-infrastructure-fund-lssif
Jan 17, 2019
The new look Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland was launched yesterday at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus by Minister of State Brendan Griffin in front of a strong turnout of sports administrators.
The new body replaces Just Sport Ireland which was set up in 2007 by the Federation of Irish Sport as a not for profit dispute resolution body for sport in Ireland.
Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland (SDSI) will operate in a similar manner under the Federation of Irish Sport
“The new body provides a range of service which offers the most effective and cost-efficient way of dealing with disputes in Irish sport once they have gone beyond the individual sporting bodies,” said Minister Griffin.
“It helps avoid sporting disputes appearing in the High Court which inevitably results in the loss of funds that otherwise would be used in the development of sport both at local and national level.”
“The new name provides greater clarity as to the services offered and what SDSI actually does,” added Federation of Irish Sport CEO Mary O’Connor.
“This is the first step in a campaign to ensure that everyone in sport in Ireland became more aware of exactly what is available in the event of a dispute escalating.”
“It is also our intention to have all NGB’s to build SDSI into their individual constitutions to ensure provision for the referral of disputes to SDSI should the need arise.”
“Like the Minister, the Federation is of the firm belief that sport is best kept out of the High Court. Not alone is SDSI more cost effective but it is a confidential service which helps to protect sport from unnecessary negative publicity and reputational damage.”
The Chairperson of the SDSI Board is Declan McPhillips who explained the need for the re-brand and strategic review, “As part of this Review the Board identified a concern as to a lack of awareness of the existence of JSI and perhaps a lack of understanding of the value of the process.”
“Sport Ireland fully supports and recommends the adoption of Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland, a service that is hugely valued by National Governing Bodies for Sport and sports organisations nationwide,” concluded Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy.
“While no one wants to see disputes arise, this service provided by the Federation of Irish Sport means that they have been settled in a timely and cost-effective manner, rather than entering into drawn out and costly litigation.”
“Having an alternative form of dispute resolution of funding is a requirement for the receipt of funding from Sport Ireland and we are pleased that the vast majority of funded bodies have signed up to Sport Dispute Solutions Ireland.”
