The Government has published the first Major International Sports Events Policy and Strategy Framework for Ireland.
Ireland has had significant success in the current decade, with the Ryder Cup, the Euro Championship Finals, the Cricket World Cup and the Europa League Final all taking place over the coming years.
Ministers Catherine Martin and Thomas Byrne went back in order to go forward, referencing the enormous social benefit to come from Ireland staging the Special Olympics World Games in 2003. The policy document lists 26 past, present, and future major events that have put Ireland firmly on the map for major events.
There is no sugar coating, though, with a section devoted to the risks and costs as well as the benefits and opportunities of playing on this global stage.
“While many events could present a great fit for Ireland and could utilise existing facilities, such as stadiums or the National Sports Campus, to deliver many economic, social and sporting benefits, others are overpriced, vulnerable to under-delivery and have limited potential to impact positively in Ireland.
There is a broad take on what constitutes a major event, with 98 per cent of the respondents to the public consultation, including Sport for Business, agreeing with the dated definition as being ‘International Sporting Events at or near the pinnacle of the relevant sport, are of limited duration, and have a wide reach in terms of participation, audience and/or profile.
The benefits are categorised into five separate areas: tourism and economic benefit, increased participation in the sport, high performance, improved infrastructure and legacy effects and enjoyment, national pride, and community spirit.
Interestingly, the ‘party’ element was considered the least important of the five by the consultation.
This is a very solid piece of work, with the next steps outlined for adding more detail to the 40-page document published yesterday. A working group of stakeholders is suggested to bring greater definition to the strategy framework, and this will be important so that we can learn from the forthcoming events and make this decade of brilliant hosting only the start.
Sport for Business hosted a Round Table of members from across the sector in 2023 and a Conference on Sports Tourism in Limerick earlier in 2024, including inputs from the Ryder Cup and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, two of the shining lights within the Sports Tourism calendar.
We will do so again in 2025, and the Government has just created a very clear agenda for our discussion.
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