The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has published a list of its own ‘resolutions’ for 2012.  The sports sector features directly in three of the 20 objectives and indirectly in a number of others.
The three primary areas are the development of facilities at the National Sports Campus, including access roads and multi use pitches; the promotion of sport through physical education as an examination subject; and the investigation of the viability of an Irish Sporting Museum.
Indirectly a pledge to remain within budget constraints will give little wriggle room when it comes to sports funding though a commitment to the Gathering as a tourism driver will have benefit for sporting events at local and national level. A new ‘safety at sea’ initiative will be if benefit to the sport of sailing at all levels.
The commitment to the National Sports Campus development is a restating of the agreement reached last year with the FAI, GAA and the Irish Hockey Association to develop pitches and the project will also gain substantial momentum with the movement of a number of sports governing bodies onto the site in the spring.
Listing the promotion of sport and physical activity as an examination subject would hardly have been included were it not for some initial discussions that might have taken place between the Department and colleagues at the Department of Education and Science, as well as the HSE.  This would be a significant step forward in terms of ‘joined up’ Government in an area of public policy where the rewards might generally lie in a longer time frame than would normally be at the top of a political list.
In terms of an Irish Sporting Museum, this is a fine idea but one which may already exist in the shape of different individual sports bodies.  The GAA Museum is a match for most that would be rated as in the top rank of similar institutions internationally.
The Department published an honest report card of its achievements at the end of last year and it is of note that these three areas in particular will now form an important pa of the sports workload for officials through 2013.
It will be interesting to note how their progress might be encouraged through the interest and commercial input of partners from within the Sport for Business Community.
[ismember] Key take away for Sport: The inclusion of sport as part of the Departmental list of priorities is important, and should not be seen as mere tokenism.  If sport cabe encouraged onto the education exam curriculum it will have long and lasting benefits.
Key Take away for Business: Budgetary constraints remain of critical importance in the delivery of Government plans and projects.  Imaginative intervention with commercial support will be welcomed. [/ismember]
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