The CEO role is the pinnacle of leadership in any organisation, and this year we are listing those across the sporting landscape who hold this position.

Dr Una May has been CEO at Sport Ireland since January 2022, now approaching four years in the top job.

Her role is to lead by example and through good governance, and to ensure that Government funding for sport in Ireland is distributed as effectively as possible.

The ecosystem of National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships exists to deliver sport in as many ways as possible across the country, and Una May is the first point of contact when discussions at the Government level arise on how to do so.

The delivery of the final stages of the current National Sports Policy, and the shaping of what its successor will look like are two of the many issues that sit on her desk, as well as the development of the National Sports Campus with ground set to break in the next twelve months on the new National Velodrome and Badminton Centre, and on the new National Cricket Stadium.

The role is incredibly complex, sitting at the intersection of performance, participation, the needs of sporting bodies, and government engagement. She wears it lightly, though, and is a popular and effective leader of the Sporting landscape.

Prior to taking on the top job, she was Sport Ireland’s Director of Participation and Ethics, and she has been present on this list since we started.

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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?

 

Image Credit: Sport for Business

Further Reading for Sport for Business members:

Read our Sport for Business Coverage of Industry Movers

SPORT FOR BUSINESS  Upcoming Events

 

 

November 20th – Playing for the Planet – A new event focused on Sustainability in Sport with the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport

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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