2022 was a year of highs and lows, from emerging out of lockdown to qualifying for a Women’s World Cup Finals and watching the Men’s tournament play out in the days leading up to Christmas.
Over twelve days, we are taking a look back at the tales each month that captured our and your imagination over the past twelve months.
MAY 2022
KELLIE PULLS NO PUNCHES ON BOXING S**TSHOW READ IN FULL
Kellie Harrington is always refreshingly honest when she is called upon to meet with media either as part of her boxing or in an ambassador role.
Yesterday she and Ellen Keane were unveiled as the faces and voices of a new three-year deal to promote sport across the Dublin City Council area and while she was eloquent and passionate about what that means to her, she was also pulling no punches when it came to discussing the current problems at the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.
“It’s a shitshow at the moment,” she told us. “and it has been like that for a number of years.”
GO ALL OUT WEEK LAUNCHED FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Cara’s Inaugural Go All Out Week ran from July 18th to 24th at locations all across Ireland.
Its aim was be to inspire people with disabilities and professionals working in the outdoor sector to understand the value and to see the opportunities that are available to them in their local communities.
IRFU MAKE MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
The IRFU announced three senior management appointments this month, completing the pieces of at least one part of the rugby leadership jigsaw following the step-up of Kevin Potts to CEO in December of 2021.
Padraig Power has been appointed to the role of Chief Commercial Officer. He joined the IRFU as Marketing Manager in 2000 and was promoted to Commercial & Marketing Director in 2008.
Gerard Carmody has been appointed to the role of Director of Operations. He joined the IRFU in 1992 and in 2003 was seconded from his position as Match Manager in Lansdowne Road Stadium to work with the Irish Team during the Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Conor O’Brien, FCA, has been appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Having trained with Deloitte, he joined the IRFU in 1995 as Finance Officer. He was subsequently promoted to Financial Controller and in 2012 became Director of Finance.
WORKPLACE RUNNING RETURNS TO THE PHOENIX PARK
7,000 runners drawn from companies across the country pounded the Phoenix Park over two May nights as the return of the PwC Staff Relay Run marked another major step in getting back to normal.
Over 2,000 runners took part in the first night of racing last night and that number swelled to the maximum of 5,000 tonight.
The event saw teams of four each running 5 km legs around a circuit that looped back in the final kilometre through the tented village where fellow runners and colleagues could cheer them on.
TG4 CONFIRMS LGFA PARTNERSHIP TO 2027
TG4 announced a five-year extension of their sponsorship of the All-Ireland Ladies Football inter-county championships, with the new deal set to last until the conclusion of the 2027 season.
This deal extends TG4’s long-standing sponsorship and broadcast rights agreement with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and ensures that the partners will work closely together in 2024 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the LGFA.
TG4 have been the title sponsor of the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships since 2001 and the partnership has evolved into one of the most recognised and innovative in world sport.
A DAY OF INSPIRATION AT THE WOMEN IN SPORT CONFERENCE 2022
It was a special day on May 19th when the Sport for Business community gathered in person in larger numbers for the first time post-pandemic.
There was a tingle of excitement from the doors opening at the Aviva Stadium for breakfast and that was maintained throughout a day that was intended to inspire and inform and which we feel delivered.
From the opening session with Sport Ireland CEO Dr Una May delivering a personal and comprehensive outline of her hopes and ambitions in the role through a really honest, heartwarming and inspiring conversation with Vera Pauw as we veered into Extra Time, this was an event that had a little bit of everything.
Our coaching session with Lisa Fallon and Cliodhna O’Connor posed a lot of questions on what we can do to ease a pathway for more women in coaching roles and who might own the delivery of that.
Our visibility session had Orla McElroy of the Irish Daily Mail expressing her insight on how to raise the level of coverage and some of the things that help including tournaments being given their own space and time like the TikTok Six Nations. We also heard from Neal Cummins of Sky Ireland on the impact which coverage of the Women’s Super League in England as well as the partnership with the Republic of Ireland Women’s National team here is having on viewership and engagement.
Lochlann Walsh gave us an introduction to the work of the Olympic Federation of Ireland Gender Equality Commission and we were joined by Olympic Federation of Ireland President Sarah Keane to update us on the EU and IOC initiatives in this whole area which we will share in greater detail next week.
Aoife Clarke of Lidl Ireland and John Gillick of AIG gave us real insight on the ways in which commercial partners with the right mindset can make a huge difference to the way in which sport can grab hold of public imagination and that was backed up with two great five-minute knowledge bursts on Fandom and Social media from Jill Downey of Core Sponsorship and Stephen O’Leary of Olytico which we will also share.
We also got a green-side view of what the return of the Irish Women’s Open in Golf will be like at Dromoland Castle in September.
It really was a privilege to have so many people so clearly moved by what they absorbed over the course of the half-day and we look forward to picking up all of the threads over the coming weeks, months and years. We are already looking forward to doing it all over again.
Thanks to all who spoke, to all who came and to Lidl, AIG and DMG Media for their continued support in everything we do in this key area.
HEINEKEN CUP FINAL ANNOUNCED FOR DUBLIN IN 2023
The Aviva Stadium will host the 2023 Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup Finals.
The announcement was made on 19th May by European Professional Club Rugby and it will be the first time the two finals have been staged on Irish soil since 2013.
The two showpiece matches, representing the pinnacle of elite European club rugby, will take place in Dublin on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May 2023.
International brewing giant Heineken has also confirmed an extension of its long-standing partnership and will continue as title sponsor of the Heineken Champions Cup. Heineken’s close connection with the tournament spans nearly 30 years since rugby embraced professionalism in 1995.
DUBLIN JERSEY GOES RED FOR CUALA AND SUPPORT4DRUMMO
Dublin stars Con O’Callaghan, Cian O’Callaghan, Sinéad Wylde and Aisling Maher were at Cuala GAA club in Dalkey in May to help launch this year’s AIG Dublin GAA jersey swap in support of the Support4Drummo campaign.
Seán Drummond was a star underage player who had gone on to play a leading role in the Cuala senior team. In 2019 after finishing his college exams he travelled to London but while there he suffered life-changing injuries in an accident.
The club rallied around and a group of a dozen friends took it on to visit him in London every weekend and to raise funds for his long term care and support. When Covid struck it became even harder but after making progress in his care Sean returned home to his family home earlier this year following a stay in the wonderful care of the staff at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dún Laoghaire.
IRISH SPORT INDUSTRY AWARDS 2022
The stars shone and the conversation crackled as the sports sector gathered in Dublin’s Westin Hotel for the revival of the Irish Sport Industry Awards.
It was the largest gathering of friends and colleagues that we have been able to enjoy in over two years and a great call by the Federation of Irish Sport, supported by Clubforce, to make it happen.
Sport is always about teamwork and the effort and energy that went into this evening and the awards were rewarded by the delight of the nominees to be there and the thrill of the winners as they were named.
Having chaired a judging panel that was detailed in its research and strong in its conviction I can vouch for the fact that this was an incredibly strong year of submissions and potential winners.
Everyone that made a shortlist was a winner in what they have done across sport but given that sport is competitive we had to pick winners and it was they who were called to the stage by host Gráinne McElwain last night, in front of special guest Minister of State Jack Chambers and 150 guests from across the leadership of sport and business.
ALL-STAR EXTENSIONS
PwC Ireland, along with The Camogie Association, announced that PwC would become the title sponsor of the PwC Camogie All-Stars for three years to 2024, strengthening the firm’s support of Irish sport and, in particular, reinforcing their commitment to increasing the profile and participation of women in sport.
In addition, along with the GAA and the GPA, PwC is announcing the renewal of the PwC All-Stars and PwC GPA Women’s Player of the Month for a further three years.
SWIM IRELAND LAUNCHES POP-UP POOL
Swim Ireland has launched Ireland’s first ‘Pop-Up Pool’, a concept that will have the ambition to bring swimming to communities across the island.
A desire to improve the opportunity to swim and to enhance the experience for all swimmers has led to the development of this innovative solution, supported by Sport Ireland, to the problem hitting the headlines of where can you access swimming when your local pool is at capacity or too far away.
With the support of Fingal County Council, the first Pop-Up Pool has now landed at Donabate Portrane Community Centre with additional pools coming soon in Wicklow and Sligo. Every 12-weeks the Pop-Up Pools will move to new locations on its journey around Ireland.
Holding 45,000 litres of water, the 12m by 3.4m steel structure will remain in place in Donabate until mid-July. The water is heated to 30 degrees and the pool is sheltered from the elements in a hard-sided and heated marquee.
There are changing rooms on-site, as well as a ramp and a hoist to provide accessibility for all.
BASKETBALL IRELAND SECURES STREAMING DEAL
Every game from the InsureMyVan.ie and MissQuote.ie Super League and Division 1, along with the InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup will be streamed live from next season.
Basketball Ireland has secured a five-year agreement with leading live-streaming platform, Joymo, to provide the service.
It will mean the broadcast of over 650 games streamed each season via an over-the-top (OTT) platform, accessible on the Basketball Ireland website.
