Nora Stapleton is a distinguished figure in Irish sport who transitioned from an outstanding playing career to a major leadership role within Sport Ireland.
As a former Irish international rugby player, she earned 50 caps for the national team and helped deliver landmark wins in major tournaments. She also enjoyed success in Gaelic football with Donegal, securing All-Ireland titles at intermediate level. Earlier this month she was inducted into the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Hall of Fame.
Since moving into the administrative side of sport, Nora has taken on the position of Director of Strategic National Governing Body Programmes and Women in Sport Lead at Sport Ireland, where she oversees governance and development across multiple sports organisations and has a central role in shaping policy and delivery for girls and women in sport.
Her leadership is characterised by a strong advocacy for inclusion, innovation and structural change: she emphasises how sport delivery must evolve — from membership models to club structures — and she actively promotes male allyship, flexible pathways and modernised approaches to participation and leadership.
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Previously Listed
Dr Una May, Moira Aston, Mary O’Connor, Michelle Carpenter, Brenda O’Donnell, Sarah Keane, Karen Coventry, Michelle Tanner
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This is the 13th edition of the Sport for Business listing of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport in partnership once more with our friends at AIG.
We began this journey in 2013, when we were challenged to produce a list of 20 Influential Women in Irish Sport. The 20 stretched to 30, then 40 and 50, and it still does not do justice to the talent out there.
Substantial progress has been made during this time. The Government, mindful of the importance and need for gender equity, challenged Irish sporting bodies to achieve a 60/40 gender split on their main boards or leadership entities by the end of 2023
Internationally, the gender split in doctors ranges from 46 per cent female in New Zealand to 48 per cent in the UK, 52 per cent in France, and 54 per cent in the United States. Sport has, for too long, lagged.
The gender gap in participation is targeted to be non-existent by 2027, and the profile of our elite athletes is as high for Katie Taylor, Katie McCabe, Rhasidat Adeleke and Leona Maguire as it is for the best of our men.
We are nearing the point where sport is sport regardless of gender.
The gap remains too big in media, sponsorship, attendance, and funding, but it is only by highlighting the wrongs that we can make them right.
This year’s list will again draw from all the multiple areas that make up sport. From the fields of play to the corridors of power, from the boardroom to the studio, and from every corner of the country.
We will divide the list into the CEO Club, the Influencers, the Sponsors Lounge.the Administrators and others
This year,once again, we will challenge ourselves to generate a minimum of 40 percent of new entrants, to ensure that fresh recognition is given to those who are making a mark.
This will mean some who fully deserve to remain stepping aside but that is part of what influence and leadership is about and they are in no way diminished by their not being on the list this year.
The list we will build over the coming weeks is a snapshot of women who are changing the way sport is played, consumed, grown, and delivered.
They are part of making the role of women in sport unexceptional by being exceptional in what they do.
Recognition of their contribution is rarely asked for but is entirely deserved, and we want your help in identifying those who you feel should be among them.
So, who do you think should be on the list for 2025?
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Further Reading for Sport for Business members:
Read our Sport for Business Coverage of Industry Movers
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December 9th – Our 12th Annual Women in Sport Conference in partnership with Lidl.
January – The Sporting Year Ahead 2026 in partnership with Teneo.
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