Sport Ireland announces €4m in funding for Women in Sport programme
Sport Ireland today announced an investment in its Women in Sport programme of €4 million over the two years 2021 and 2022.
This investment aims to support national governing bodies (NGBs) and enhance all aspects of female involvement across the Women in Sport policy target areas, namely coaching and officiating, active participation, leadership and governance, and visibility.
Recognising that effective and sustainable programmes require a long-term approach, Sport Ireland is committed to a two-year Women in Sport investment cycle. The continuation of this two-year award cycle will enable NGBs to further progress their strategic objectives for women in sport.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, welcomed today’s announcement, stating: “Addressing the participation gap in sport and physical activity for women and girls is a priority of the National Sports Policy 2018-2027. In recent years we have seen some improvements in this area, and the government and Sport Ireland are committed to continuing this work with the aim of eliminating the participation gap by 2027.
“While the interim Q1 2021 Irish Sports Monitor, published by Sport Ireland, shows that the gender gap in participation has been eliminated during Covid-19 restrictions, there is a lot of work to do to ensure that more women and girls participate in sport and physical activity. As we gradually re-open society we must work to ensure sport and physical activity become a meaningful part of the day-to-day lives of all women in society.”
The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport, Jack Chambers, added: “Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, progress was made on many of the strategic objectives set out in the Women in Sport Policy. We are seeing the results of this work in the participation figures and also importantly in the board composition of NGBs, with an increase from 24% of females serving on NGB boards in 2019 to 29% in 2020.
“There is still a long way to go to improving these figures but the funding announced today will go towards promoting more involvement in sport and physical activity at all levels, from the pitch to the boardroom.”
'Special Projects'
Funding will be ring-fenced under Women in Sport for strategically important internal and NGB-related events and projects under the ‘Special Projects’ funding. This may also be used to support organisations who did not apply for funding support in the current round.
In 2020, the sector delivered on a number of objectives set out in the Women in Sport policy and there were many projects of note throughout the year.
The Women in Sport Leadership programme rolled out by Swim Ireland was completed by 100 women from 24 NGBs who were supported and enabled to step into positions of authority in sport; Rowing Ireland coordinated a bespoke coaching programme involving four NGBs for female coaches on the pathway to high performance coaching; and programmes such as Golf Ireland's 'Level Par' and Tennis Ireland’s 'Equal Advantage' were established to ensure equality and balance in the respective sports.
The Fine Gael spokesperson on Tourism and Sport, Mayo TD Alan Dillon, has welcomed Sport Ireland's announcement, saying: “2020 was a difficult year and I am pleased to welcome this investment in Women in Sport 2021-2022. There is still room for improving these figures, but we are on the right road.”
Welcoming the funding, Women in Sport lead Nora Stapleton noted that many NGBs have submitted applications for many new, innovative and exciting projects for the next cycle. “I look forward to working with them,” she stated.
*Pictured above at the Women in Sport investment announcement today were Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, and Minister of State for Sport, the Gaeltacht and Defence, Jack Chambers, with (from left) head coach of the Dublin Lions men’s national league team Erin Bracken, member of the IRFU 15s squad and Sport Ireland media training participant Aoife McDermott, Sport Ireland director of participation and ethics Dr. Una May, Sport Ireland chief executive John Treacy and Golf Ireland member Roisin Lyons. Photo: Brendan Moran / Sportsfile