governance
The Government has sought input from those with an interest in Irish Sport on how to frame a new national Sports policy for the next decade.  

This is the first time in 20 years that such a framework will be adopted at Government level and it is a crucial opportunity to put sport into its important context as part of overall Government thinking.

The Key Areas of interest and the Sport for Business views on each are as follows:

The questions asked of us in relation to Governance

What best practice measures are already in place or are recommended to be adopted which help uphold the highest standards of governance in sporting bodies generally?

There is no question that we are pursuing the right path in terms of Sport Ireland’s commitment to governance.  Education, a willingness to assist organisations improve and a genuine understanding on their part that change for the better is needed are all in place.

There is though a way to go in terms of the perception of those on the outside of how sport is governed.

This is an international as well as an Irish problem with FIFA, the IOC and others having had long drawn out and brutal examinations of past behaviour.

Ireland has not been immune with the world spotlight falling on Pat Hickey and the Olympic Council of Ireland in 2016.  Regardless of the legality or morality in terms of his arrest there has been a dark shadow cast by the perception of privilege and entitlement that many will see in how any organisation beyond a family firm can be moulded so clearly by the power of one man or one small group.

The timing at a point where reputation questions have been asked over tax treatments and more adds to a sense that Ireland as a nation needs to move fast and with authority to make sure we are cleaner than clean and clearly seen to be so.

What is the appropriate role of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport around governance of sporting organisations?

Government needs to lead in this area.  It can wield a big stick in terms of funding and other areas and while such a threat is rarely needed to be implemented it cannot be simply ignored.

We do have a cultural challenge when it comes to authority but we need to be aware that what was always deemed to be OK might not be so in an ever more complex and counter intuitively ever more transparent world.

What is the appropriate role of Sport Ireland in terms of governance?

As an enabler of the resources needed to meet the right standards Sport Ireland is the state agency best placed to help sporting bodies.

The flip side is that because of its close working relationship in so many different areas – from high performance to funding and participation events to regulation and anti-doping – the ability to operate as a wholly independent body of oversight needs to be carefully considered.  This is not so much in terms of the actual operation but in how it is perceived within and beyond sport.

What works well in the current recognition process for national governing bodies of sport and are there areas for improvement?

The impression is that recognition based on the current variety of factors including safety of participants is sufficiently robust.

The only down side is the slower timeframe in terms of recognition for emerging sports.

What changes are needed to the governance structures in place for sporting bodies to improve the accountability, fairness and transparency across organisational activities and the integrity of Irish sport?

Greater diversity on boards is a challenge given the traditional route of people ‘giving back’ to a sport they were involved in.

The perception of ‘blazers’ running sport is far from unique to Ireland and the fact that a sector based on volunteer input requires that input outside of normal business hours is a barrier to getting people involved who do not necessarily share the same passion for a particular endeavour.

Passion can be a double edged sword though and while its benefits are obvious and lauded, the drawbacks in terms of not seeing things so clearly from an impartial perspective.

Finding a way to square this circle via the appointment of independent directors should be on the agenda for future governance.  These are not issues that are common to sport.  Good governance is an essential fact of business and society life.  The lessons learned there can be applied.

What are the views of stakeholders on introducing requirements for gender balance in NGB leadership?

Sport for Business is on record as a supporter of a much better gender balance within the leadership of sport.  The present situation clearly has grown from a (mainly) unintended bias brought about by male dominance in sport at every level.

When something is wrong it has to be put right and while there are a number of plans and projects to right the balance at different levels, leadership is the best place to make the quickest impact.

Research which shows the benefit of women on boards of PLC’s leading to better performance are not accidental.  Different voices, different thought processes, different approaches are always of value to be explored and the lack of women involved at the highest level makes this more difficult.

This is an article we published at the height of the recent ‘kerfuffle’ over women in leadership positions within sport…

FROM ‘LITTLE WOMEN’ TO LEADERSHIP CHANGE

 

They say that sport and politics should never be mixed but in fact they are rarely far apart. This time last week Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Patrick O’Donovan proposed that there needed to be a better approach to encouraging women to take up, or be allowed to take up, positions of leadership within Irish sport.

 

Speaking at the Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year lunch on Friday he said that he had ‘given the table a good kick’ and that the debate was now under way.

 

The post award celebrations and festive cheer were put on hold for a large number of sporting administrators who had been called at short notice to an hour long meeting with O’Donovan’s Senior Minister Shane Ross on Friday after which he said:

 

“I am delighted with the response from NGBs today who suggested several ways of increasing the representation of women in leadership roles in sport. There was a general consensus at the meeting that punitive measures would not assist us in achieving this goal. I look forward to further engagement.”

 

Consensus can have many meanings and a number of discussions over the weekend suggested that while gender quota’s were generally not favoured there were short periods when they were an essential tool to get clear wrongs put right.

 

It may have been that some of these views were in the papers which Minister Ross had laid out before him at RTE on Sunday night as the sporting year of achievement was celebrated at the Sports Person of the Year Awards.

 

Then again it may have been a review of some of the media commentary from Sunday morning which certainly veered between a number of extremes.

 

Colm O’Rourke devoted his column to an idea which held sway in the 19th century that women were great altogether.

Sure aren’t they heavily involved in many very important areas of his own sport GAA, including the washing of gear and the making of sandwiches.

 

He opined that “most of these same women are quite happy to do the traditional roles – they don’t want the prominent positions and don’t feel that they are treated like second-class citizens either.”

 

Just for the avoidance of doubt that is a direct quote from the column, published in the final days of 2016.

 

Colm could have looked for a more realistic portrait of Ireland in the 21st century by flicking forward a few pages to Eamon Sweeney’s column where he spoke of “my own experience is that girls who like sport are always looking for female role models.”

 

Nobody is suggesting that women have been deliberately excluded from the management and administration of sport in Ireland but the numbers don’t lie.

 

Colm O’Rourke thinks it “ludicrous” that women might add to the overall level of governance of men’s sport and equally so that men would add little to the governance of ladies football or camogie.

 

He’s wrong. A balance of men and women of equal talent, engagement and intelligence adds to the purpose and benefit of organisations across society, including at club level across many sports.

 

It’s a natural evolution of a society that once believed men and women to have a specific place based on their gender but which has grown up to recognise equality as being a more complex thing.

 

The excuse that a quota would lead to women being placed on boards as token representatives is insulting on many levels.

 

The excuse that time may be needed to change the nature of election and progress through the ranks of a volunteer organisation is valid but that’s what needs to happen now.

 

Financial threats to make sure it happens are not pleasant, sometimes not effective but often serve to make the obvious benefits more clearly seen.

 

If we asked people not to smoke in bars and restaurants, rather than legislating to prohibit it would that behaviour have changed?

 

If we asked people not to use plastic bags for their shopping rather than effectively fining them for doing so would that behaviour have changed?

 

Sport should be for all, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. At present things are getting better but there is still a gap.

 

There is a ten point gap in participation between boys aged 16-19 and girls of the same age. That extends to a 15 point gap between 20 and 24.

 

That is a failing of sport and the pace of change needs to be forced so that it does not roll on to another generation.

 

Almost all good people within sport recognise this. Some of them would question the gender quota, mainly with genuine concerns over the impact it might have in other areas but until other suggestions of equal strength to shake things up comes forward it’s the kind of ‘kick of the table’ that is needed to make sport a more equal place.