The new National Sports Policy for Ireland took a major step forward with a gathering of stakeholders from National Governing Bodies and a small number of selected guests meeting in the new Conference facility at the National Sports Campus to discuss the framework of how the policy would be constructed.
Detailed themes and points for discussion were circulated in advance and the meeting was run by officials from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport including new Secretary General Graham Doyle, Donagh Morgan, Ken Spratt and Maev NicLochlainn.
Both Ministers with responsibility in the sector, Paschal Donohue and Michael Ring were present throughout the morning’s sessions which covered areas of adult and youth participation, funding, governance, cross government support, sports tourism and high performance.
“Sport has the capacity to seize the emotions and is an essential part of modern life,” said Minister Donohue referencing Paul Rouse’s recent book on Sport in Ireland.
“This Government has been committed to its support since reviving the National Sports Campus when we came to power, through three rounds of Capital Funding fought for hard by my colleague Minister Ring and through funding which in 2016 will be 40% higher overall than was the case this year.”
“The purpose of a new National Sport Policy is to ensure that we get the maximum benefit from the different areas where sport is an integral part of thinking, be that through the new National Physical Activity plan, through the Department of Education, National Governing Bodies and across a wide range of partnerships.”
“The creation of Sport Ireland, combining the strengths of the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus will be greater than the sum of its parts and it is right we should be gathered here today to take the next steps forward on planning the long term future of sport in this country.”
There will be other engagements with different stakeholder groups in the coming months and a wider consultation document will be published early in the New Year.
The process is necessarily very inclusive and while there were a number of interests represented yesterday that would take a narrow enough approach to what is needed, overall Sport in Ireland is well served by administrators who for the most part can see the bigger picture of sport for all being of benefit to all.
Sport for Business looks forward, through our membership community, to playing a significant role in taking this to the next stage. Yesterday was a good step in the right direction.
Sport for Business is a community of sporting and business leaders.
We work closely with our members in over 130 of Ireland’s leading sports and businesses shining a light on the commercial world of sport, building and collaborating on great events that help us all to be better at what we do.
Sport for Business is a community of sporting and business leaders. 
