Active Disability Ireland will bring together representatives from across Irish sport this morning at the Sport Ireland Campus to launch its new Training & Education Framework and the Gold level of the Xcessible programme.
The event, taking place at the GAA Development Centre, will focus on how training, education and organisational standards can help turn commitments around disability inclusion into practical change.
Sport for Business CEO Rob Hartnett will MC the morning, with contributions from Active Disability Ireland CEO Brenda O’Donnell, Sport Ireland’s Declan O’Leary and Active Disability Ireland Chair Brian O’Callaghan.
The centrepiece will be the new Training & Education Framework, designed to provide a clearer learning pathway for coaches, volunteers, administrators and organisations seeking to make sport more inclusive.
Anna O’Connor of Active Disability Ireland and Dr Sharon Kinsella of SETU will discuss the redevelopment of the training, the importance of lived experience in shaping the content and the need to ensure learning translates into better everyday practice.
The morning will also revisit the Sport Inclusion Disability Charter, which has now attracted more than 2,600 signatures. We were one of the first organisations to sign up to this charter, and we still live by its emphasis on inclusion every day and for all of our events.
Today, the emphasis will be on what comes next.
Signing a Charter or completing a course can be an important starting point, but the real measure of progress is whether people with disabilities experience more opportunities, greater confidence and a stronger sense that sport is genuinely designed to include them.
A second major element will be the launch of the Gold criteria within the Xcessible programme for National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships.
Eighteen NGBs and LSPs were recognised at Bronze and Silver level at the 2025 Xcessible Awards, with Gold now providing the next stage in the progression.
Oisín Jordan of Special Olympics Ireland and Active Disability Ireland’s Stephanie Mac Sweeney will discuss the development of the new criteria and what organisations will need to demonstrate at the highest level.
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Today’s launch will focus on systems rather than one-off initiatives.
Disability inclusion is increasingly being treated not as a specialist area sitting alongside mainstream sport, but as something that should run through coaching, governance, facilities, programmes and organisational culture.
The success of the new framework will not ultimately be judged by course completions or awards achieved, but by whether the experience of people with disabilities in Irish sport improves as a result.
That is the standard that matters.
Active Disability Ireland, Sport Ireland and Special Olympics Ireland are among the many sporting organisations who see the value of a Sport for Business membership. If you would like to join them and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the conversation happening every day around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible, or sign up straight away from the link below.
Image Credit: Active Disability Ireland
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