The weather could not have been more perfect for this year’s HER Outdoors Week running from Monday through to Sunday all across the country.

Following the huge success of last year’s event, Sport Ireland is running HER Outdoors Week 2022 with the ambition to inspire, educate, and encourage more females to get out into the great outdoors and experience everything the outdoors has to offer whilst being physically active.

5,000 took part in different programmes and activities last year and it seems that it is well on target to break that number this year.

The last two years have seen an increase in opportunities for outdoor activities in Ireland. Significant support has been received from the government towards the development and upgrade of outdoor infrastructure, as a way of maximising what Ireland has to offer and the increased interest for people to be in the outdoors.

This support includes the 2022 Outdoor Recreation and Infrastructure Scheme, which emphasises the opportunities for recreational amenities located near rivers, lakes and beaches. It also seeks to support recreational infrastructure that provides an inclusive approach for communities to deliver outlets that support a diverse range of users, including people with disabilities and older adults.

The increased understanding of outdoor recreation benefits and government support has led to the development of a National Outdoor Recreation Strategy which will be launched in the autumn. This strategy aims to provide leadership and support to the outdoor sector while providing more opportunities for everyone to be active in the outdoors.

HER Outdoors Week is run by Sport Ireland, together with the network of Local Sports Partnerships and outdoor National Governing Bodies.

“This is a fantastic initiative that gets people, and in particular, women and girls exercising outdoors for this one week of August,” said Sport Ireland CEO Dr Una May.

“There are a wonderful range of activities and events taking place across the country, giving everyone a chance to try something new. I wish to thank all of the coordinators for putting the events together across Ireland and I look forward to seeing everything in action throughout the week.”

“This initiative is to get more females active throughout the week while promoting the outdoor opportunities we have across the country,” added Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers.