Universal Welcome for Elite Athlete Return to Training

Sport Ireland has welcomed the approval by Government of its proposal to allow for the resumption of training for high performance and professional athletes.
From Monday 8th June, a number of high-performance athletes and professional athletes will be allowed to resume training at agreed locations around the country.
Athletes allowed to return to training are those included on the Sport Ireland International Carding Scheme and senior athletes in a National Governing Body that is in receipt of Sport Ireland High-Performance Programme Funding.
Also permitted to return are a number of players who derive a living from competing in football or rugby as identified by their respective governing bodies.
Sport Ireland made a submission to Government in May seeking a special dispensation for high-performance athletes to travel beyond current distance restriction in order to train at dedicated high-performance training centres.
Sport Ireland’s proposal was supported by High-Performance National Governing Bodies, as well as the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Paralympics Ireland.
“Sport Ireland welcomes the commitment of Government to high-performance sport in Ireland,” said CEO John Treacy.
“Since Covid-19 restrictions were put in place in March, the operations of our high-performance programmes have been significantly affected. The athletes have shown great dedication in continuing to train on an individual basis in their remote environments. However, sports that are facility dependent or team based cannot easily replicate the benefits of training at their home environment.”
“Sport Ireland has worked closely with our funded bodies to understand their requirements in order to return to training in a safe and controlled manner and has advocated on their behalf to ensure a prompt return with appropriate protocols in place. Sport Ireland would like to acknowledge Ministers Ross and Griffin for their support in enabling this to be facilitated.”
In order to facilitate the return to training by identified high performance athletes and professionals, National Governing Bodies were required to prepare detailed protocols outlining how athletes and support personnel will be kept safe as the country moves through the various stages of the Government Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business. All of these protocols have been signed-off by the Expert Group on Return to Sport.
“In early March as Covid-19 began to take hold in Ireland, Sport Ireland moved to ensure funding to our athletes and programmes was protected,” added Sport Ireland Director of High Performance and National Governing Bodies, Paul McDermott.
“That is why we have given the commitment that direct funding to our athletes will be honoured for 2021, with high performance programmes fully funded for 2020.”
“While the Sport Ireland Institute building has been closed, the expert staff have still been working hard to support athletes, taking innovative approaches to ensuring that all areas are covered from strength & conditioning to nutrition, psychology to life skills. This has been vitally important. We look forward to the Sport Ireland Institute building reopening on Monday.”
The Sport Ireland Institute is located on the Sport Ireland Campus, where other facilities such as the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena and National Aquatic Centre will be available to athletes permitted to return to training.
The IRFU professional players and the four FAI clubs who are preparing for European competition – Dundalk F.C, Derry City F.C, Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers – are included in this exemption.
These athletes and support staff, from 21 different sports, will now be permitted to travel beyond 20km from their homes to attend scheduled training sessions at the following training centres:
MINISTERS REACT
“I am pleased that we have been able to facilitate a return to training activity for these high performance athletes and teams, especially for the members of Team Ireland,” said Minister Shane Ross.
“2020 was to be the pinnacle of their sporting career, but instead they have endured huge disappointment and massive uncertainty. These past weeks have been particularly challenging for everybody concerned. Athletes have sought to maintain their fitness and focus while training at home but that is no substitute for the benefit of using the special training facilities available in dedicated training centres. I am delighted that we can now match the practice elsewhere in Europe and permit athletes to return to training at their national training centres.”
“I have heard first-hand the difficulties that many of these athletes have faced due to the COVID-19 restrictions and the return to training will help them to get back to full fitness,” added Minister of State Brendan Griffin.
TEAM IRELAND
“Of course, many are still facing uncertainty as to when they can return to competition but I am pleased that they can at least take this first step to resuming their journey towards achieving their goals in sport. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to extend this accommodation to youth athletes and others; for now, it has to be limited to a defined list of athletes and coaches.”
“We are delighted to see athletes and sports return to their training centres and know that this will bring relief to the many athletes who can get back to their job of preparing for the Olympic Games next year,” said Patricia Heberle Chef de Mission for Team Ireland at the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
“I would like to thank Sport Ireland, the Sport Ireland Institute and all the National Governing Bodies for the work that they have put into getting us to this point.”