Oct 1, 2018
Congratulations to everyone who took part in activities surrounding the European Week of Sport over the past seven days and more.
The week-long celebration of sport and physical activity culminated in the second Family SportsFest at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena on Sunday.
The crowds started to flood in from before the doors opened at 10 AM and by the time all the sporting organisations present began to fold their tents, well over 3,000 adults and children had been able to enjoy a sample of what was on offer.
Pretty much every sport had some visibility with the IRFU, FAI and GAA all having stars, trophies and immersive activities on display in the main hall.
Eoin McDevitt from Second Captains was MC for the day and brought the venue to life interviewing stars from all the sports and plenty of kids as well.
The Volleyball court in the second hall was busy throughout and there was plenty of interest too in the Baton Twirling exhibitions that were taking place.
Archery took over the corner adjoining the Gymnastics area and children were trying out so many other sports, many for the first time from high jump and long jump in athletics to cricket, wrestling and a very lively boxing ring.
The Gymnastics tasters were popular as were the ability to hit so many balls from hurling to hockey.
There was still a big crowd around for the Mascot race which took place on the track where we also got to see Double European Youth Athletics Gold Medallist Sarah Healy, having a gentle run out and meeting lots of families.
A great day all round and we are looking forward already to doing it all again in 2019. After a short break to recharge of course!
Sep 23, 2018
As part of a new monthly feature, we want to know a little more about the organisations and the individuals that support the work of the Federation.
This month we sat down with Amanda Harton, Director of JLT and related to some pretty good Caribbean swimmers…
Can you tell us a little about how your business partners with the Federation and its members?
We provide insurance advice and solutions to the federation, National Governing Bodies, Sports Clubs and Associations and Individuals involved in Sport in Ireland.
What is one of the issues that you might be able to solve?
One example is we were recently approached by a soccer league who had been trying, unsuccessfully for a couple of years, to develop a Personal Accident facility for their league players and officials.
We were able to design an implement a cost-effective programme which has provided savings to teams across the league and streamlined benefits for all players on the pitch.
What is your personal background in sport?
As a kid, I played every sport I could throughout primary and secondary school. I loved all aspects including the comradery, fitness, competition and getting out of class for matches.
After school, I dropped out for a few years but later found my way back. Since having kids (combined with a full-time job), I don’t have the flexibility to partake in a team sport, but exercise about 3-4 times a week with a mix of Pilates, running, weight training and gym – mainly so I have the energy and focus to keep up with everything else in life.
My daughter is involved in Gymnastics and is joining the academy in our local GAA club in September so I’ve signed up to help out, which I’m really looking forward to.
What do you find most interesting about working in and around the sporting sector?
I find performance really interesting, however, the work being undertaken by our clients around general participation is fantastic, particularly when you consider the strong links between sports participation and general health and wellbeing, including mental health – and the resulting positive impact on the economy.
If you had an open ticket which sporting event around the world would you attend?
I’d go back in time and attend the 2008 Wimbledon Final between Nadal and Federer. I watched at home wishing I was there to see two greats take each other on in such a thrilling match.
And if you could arrange for one victory for a sports team or star that matters to you what would it be?
I’ve cousins swimming for Trinidad and Tobago and I’d love to see them achieve their goals of getting to the next Olympics. Other than that, really for me the victory is in increased participation and seeing kids involved in and benefiting from all that sport has to offer.
Sep 19, 2018
The Irish Eventing team have made history today (Monday) by winning the team Silver Medal at the FEI World Equestrian Games in North Carolina, USA, and in the process have qualified for the 2020 Toyko Olympics, while Tipperary’s Padraig McCarthy has completed a remarkable day for the Irish by also taking individual Silver.
Even the arrival of Tropical Storm Florence to North Carolina failed to halt the Irish march, after torrential rain caused havoc with the competition schedule, moving the final to Monday due to heavy rain, but the wait made this result all the sweeter.
The Irish team of Cathal Daniels, Sam Watson, Padraig McCarthy and Sarah Ennis, managed by Sally Corscadden, finished the three Eventing phases of Dressage, Cross Country and Show Jumping on a final score of 93.0, just over one fence behind Britain who took gold on 88.8. France took home the Bronze on 99.8, with Japan finishing just outside the medals in fourth on 113.9. With Japan hosting the 2020 Olympics, that gave an extra place to Tokyo to those down the line. Germany, Australia and New Zealand join Ireland Britain as France as officially qualified for the Olympic Games.
Ireland had been in seventh place after Friday’s Dressage, but rose to second place after a phenomenal Cross Country performance on Saturday when all Irish team riders jumped clear.
One of the most closely-fought competitions in the history of the Games went right down to the wire in the final Show Jumping phase. Competing as an individual, Cork’s Patricia Ryan was the first Irish rider to jump and went clear with Dunrath Eclipse (ISH) to finish in 61st overall.
Galway’s Cathal Daniels, the youngest competitor in the competition at just 22, finished with just one fence down with Rioghan Rua (ISH) and finished 26th individually on 41.6. Ireland’s second team rider Sam Watson, was under real pressure entering the arena after watching Japan and France produce clear rounds. The Carlow rider kept his cool and guided Horseware Ardagh Highlight to a perfect clear. It saw Watson rise up to 14th individually to finish on his Dressage score of 35.5.
Tipperary’s Padraig McCarthy started the day in seventh place, however a clear round with Mr Chunky not only guaranteed Ireland a medal, but also gave him a chance of a podium finish. Meath’s Sarah Ennis had one fence down with Horseware Stellor Rebound, but kept it at that score to ensure Ireland would take a memorable team silver. It left Ennis in a hugely impressive fifth place individually at the finish on a score of 30.3.
The battle for individual medals was not decided until the very last horse jumped the very last fence. Germany’s Ingrid Klimke looked set to be crowned World Champion when approaching the last fence clear with SAP Hale Bob, but the pole fell to the floor dropping her down to bronze on 27.3, and giving Ireland’s McCarthy the individual silver on 27.2. Britain’s Ros Canter is the new World Champion after her clear round aboard Allstar B saw them finish on 24.6.
Asked about what today’s result means for Irish Eventing, team manager Sally Corscadden said:
“It’s absolutely is huge, we are making history here today when you think about it. I had belief in these guys that we could be competitive and that was our goal the whole time, to be competitive and we just stuck to that goal and this is where it got us. I think we pushed those Brits too and made them a little nervous ” she quipped.
She continued, “There was nothing lucky about this. This was made to happen by the whole set-up and the team behind them, I just can’t tell you how many people have worked to make this happen.”
Asked if it was now all full steam ahead with preparing for Tokyo, Corscadden said, “I might take a couple of days off first.
Ireland’s individual silver medalist, Padraig McCarthy was asked if he felt the pressure when he went into the arena,
“I wasn’t in a medal position [individually] when I went in. I had experience of jumping him in big competitions and he is a very good jumper. In a previous life I used to be a Show Jumper so that gave me a lot of confidence. I had a very good warm up outside and the horse felt brilliant.
Asked if he thought now that it is better to be an Eventer than a Show Jumper, he said “Absolutely”
Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy added:
“I am just so proud of all involved. This is another incredible achievement by our athletes. Our Eventing team manager Sally Corscadden and all her support staff have put in an incredible amount of hard work to make this happen. The athletes themselves have shown professionalism, hard work and dedication. I want to thank Sport Ireland for their extra support given in this World Equestrian Games year and all our very loyal sponsors. Most of all I want to thank the owners and breeders of these wonderful horses and of course all the horses’ grooms who have kept the show on the road under very testing conditions. It is a great day for Irish sport and for the Irish Sport Horse industry as a whole.”
HSI Chairman Joe Reynolds said:
“I want to congratulate Sally and her team on an outstanding result. It takes a special performance and preparation to achieve this level of success and this group have done their country proud. We can now look forward to supporting our Eventing team in the build up to Toyko which is hugely exciting.”
The first World Equestrian Games were held in Stockholm (SWE) in 1990. Co Down’s Dermott Lennon won individual gold in Show Jumping in 2002 at Herez in Spain but today marks Ireland’s first team medal at a World Equestrian Games.
Ireland did previously win a team gold medal in an Eventing World Championships in 1966 at Burghley in Great Britain. with a team that included Virginia Freeman-Jackson, Eddie Boylan, Penelope Moreton and Tommy Brennan.
Ireland will bid for further glory on Wednesday, when the Irish Show Jumping team of Shane Sweetnam, Paul O’Shea, Shane Breen and Cian O’Connor, led by Rodrigo Pessoa begin their World Equestrian Games campaign.
This report was originally published on www.horseportireland.ie
Sep 19, 2018
Congratulations to Sanita Puspure who has today been crowned World Champion after winning Gold in the women’s single sculls.
Following a week of highly impressive form, Puspure executed yet another dominant performance in the final in Plovdiv this morning, which saw her begin to edge ahead of the field from as early on as the 500 metre mark.
This was to be the position she held for close to the entirety of the race, putting more and more water between herself and reigning Champion Gmelin of Switzerland, with other medal contenders Lobnig of Austria, Kohler of the USA and Denmark’s Erichsen never so much as threatening the Irish sculler who looked in control throughout. In the finish, Puspure crossed the line with four lengths and almost six seconds to spare ahead of Gmelin who took silver, followed by Lobnig who claimed the bronze. USA, Denmark and Germany followed, in that order.
Puspure was understandably emotional accepting her Gold medal and joins the O’ Donovan brothers, Gary and Paul, in becoming World Champion for 2018. The O’ Donovans had won Gold the day previous in the lightweight men’s double sculls.
Earlier this morning, Ireland had two other boats racing in finals. Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska had a comfortable win in the C Final of the women’s double sculls, placing them 13th overall at the Championships. Like Puspure, the Irish crew lead throughout and took the win by a margin of 2.74 seconds ahead of China in second and Italy in third, followed by Switzerland, Ukraine and Romania.
Shortly after this, Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne took to the water in the B Final of the men’s double sculls, where a third-place finish positions them in 9th place overall at the end of the 2018 World Championships. Just .35 seconds separated the top two boats in this race, the Netherlands and Poland with the Irish double finishing just over three seconds behind in third ahead of Norway, Estonia and Bulgaria. A highly encouraging result for this developing crew.
Rowing Ireland CEO, Michelle Carpenter, was thrilled with the Irish results after the weekend:
It’s been an unprecedented weekend for Irish Rowing. To have won a gold medal yesterday in our first Olympic event was phenomenal, and to top it off today with Sanita’s resounding win was more than the icing on the cake.
We have all watched and supported Sanita over the years and we were empowered by her turn around and performance during this World Championships. It’s a proud day to be part of Irish Rowing – I hope every single club and organisation that are involved with us and are part of us will celebrate that success.
Our thanks go to our supporters, in particular Sport Ireland, Sport NI and GVA Donal O’Buachalla who have always stood by our sport.
As the 2018 World Rowing Championships conclude, Rowing Ireland athletes return home with two Gold medals and three further crews finishing within the top ten in their category, two of which also reached A Finals (top 6), as well as two C Final wins and invaluable racing experience as we look ahead to qualification for Tokyo 2020.
This report was originally published on www.rowingireland.ie
Sep 18, 2018
A new report published today [18 September, 2018] brings together for the first time a clear picture of all activity in Ireland’s seas. The National Marine Planning Framework Baseline Report is a key part of the process of developing Ireland’s first marine spatial plan, which will be the equivalent of the National Planning Framework for the marine area.
The Federation of Irish Sport has represented sporting interests on the Group looking into this important area.
As identified in Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth, a comprehensive National Marine Planning Framework enable the Government set a clear direction for managing our seas, clarify objectives and priorities, and direct decision-makers, users and stakeholders towards more strategic, efficient use of marine resources.
The purpose of the Baseline report is to set out the context in which the marine spatial plan is being developed and help to identify the key issues marine planning will need to address. It sets out a description of the “as is” situation in terms of existing sectoral development and activities in Ireland’s maritime area, including an identification of the future opportunities and constraints for each, and number of consultation questions or issues intended to prompt discussion and consideration amongst stakeholders. Responses to these questions will be a crucial input to the draft plan. The first draft NMPF is intended to be published in mid-2019 for a further round of consultation.
Stakeholder and public engagement is a critical part of the process and representatives from all the key sectors comprise an advisory group overseeing the process. This includes fisheries, aquaculture, energy, tourism, sport, local authorities as well as the social and economic pillars and environmental NGOs such as Bird Watch Ireland, SWAN, Coastwatch, An Taisce and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.
The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is responsible for the development of the framework and Minister of State Damien English has specific responsibility for marine planning. Speaking on the Baseline Report, which was brought to the Government for approval at today’s Cabinet meeting, the Minister said: ‘When we see the demands being placed on our marine area clearly laid out we can effectively consider whether those demands can be met simultaneously or whether some management or governance is required in particular areas.
Developed with assistance from the Marine Institute, the report is available to be viewed on the department website, www.housing.gov.ie and the public are invited to make submissions on it until midday 14 December 2018. A series of regional events will take place on the Baseline Report in Waterford (2nd October), Galway (5th October), Sligo (12thOctober), Cork (19thf October) and Dublin (23rd October). These will be introduced by the Minister and will feature an international perspective and a moderated panel discussion featuring high-profile guests from a range of marine-related backgrounds (environmental, renewable energy, sport, planners, port authorities etc.) with audience participation. The panellists will be invited to give their sectoral perspective on what objectives or policies they think Ireland’s National Marine Planning Framework should include. For more see the website, twitter: @MSP_Ireland or email msp@housing.gov.ie
Sep 15, 2018
A new name and logo have been unveiled for the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the island of Ireland with a name change from The Olympic Council of Ireland to Olympic Federation of Ireland. A modernised Olympic crest will also be sported by the Team Ireland athletes for the first time at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires next month.
The new identity for Olympic Federation of Ireland falls at the halfway mark between the Summer Games. “This is a good juncture for us to launch our new identity,” explains CEO Peter Sherrard, “We are just under two years out from Tokyo 2020 and we are currently planning a range of initiatives with partners and sponsors to help support the athletes of Team Ireland in the build-up.”
The new logo was designed by the creative agency, Atomic Sport, with the aim of developing an identity within the IOC guidelines, that would be worn with pride, and in keeping with the rich history of this iconic brand.
One of the guiding principles behind the logo design was also the need to modernise the Olympic crest to make it suitable and effective on an increasing number of digital platforms.
Another consideration was the importance of creating something that had a connection to the history of the Irish Olympic movement. The inspiration for the crest shape stemmed from the Irish Olympic team kit worn around the time of Ronnie Delany’s gold medal in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, one of the country’s greatest ever Olympic moments.
The importance of a strong logo for athletes were reflected in the design. Director of Atomic Sport, Patrick Murphy points out, “we also wanted to ensure that we created a logo that would sit proudly on the athletes’ team kit as a badge of honour to acknowledge their achievements and efforts.”
The Team Ireland athletes at the Youth Olympic Games will be the first to sport the new logo. The Youth Olympic Games take place in the Buenos Aires, Argentina, from the 6 – 18 October 2018.
