Leaders from across Irish sport gathered yesterday for the Annual Leaders Forum, hosted by the Federation of Irish Sport, bringing together senior figures from National Governing Bodies, Local Sports Partnerships, and key stakeholders to examine governance, policy, and long-term sustainability across the sector.
The Federation welcomed strong attendance despite challenging weather and travel conditions, and extended particular thanks to Charlie McConalogue, who delivered the Ministerial Address and formally closed the event.
He outlined how investment in sport has grown steadily during the lifetime of the current National Sports Policy and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to participation and performance across all levels of Irish sport.
A central theme of the Forum was organisational resilience. One panel discussion, moderated by Dennis O’Connor, explored the opportunity for National Governing Bodies to establish philanthropic foundations to build long-term structural strength. The discussion followed a presentation by John Menton OLY and featured contributions from Peter Sherrard of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, James O’Callaghan of Irish Sailing, and Paddy Murphy of Ogier.
Mary O’Connor hosted a panel with Dr Una May of Sport Ireland, Hamish Adams of Athletics Ireland, and Vinnie O’Shea of Healthy Ireland, during which they discussed the priorities for the next national sports policy, which will start in 2028.
Policy and governance remained in sharp focus, with Ciarán Shanley of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport reviewing the performance of the current National Sports Policy, and noting that the next governance challenge will be to embed good practice more deeply at the club and grassroots levels.
He also confirmed that sport will feature during Ireland’s EU Presidency in the second half of 2026, with the European Week of Sport set to be launched from Ireland in September.
Image Credit: Federation of Irish Sport
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