We are coming back to participation in sport as a nation with 41 per cent having taken part in the first six months of 2021. That figure, despite also having tough lockdown measures in place is up from the 35 per cent number of 2020 but still lagging behind the high point of 46 per cent achieved in 2019.

The 2021 Irish Sports Monitor Mid-Year Report was published yesterday and shows that the increase is driven by increases in the numbers cycling, swimming, playing golf and playing popular team sports.

Another clear impact of the Covid times is the 76 per cent of the population who engaged in recreational walking during the period. This matches each half-year of the pandemic and is a solid ten percentage points up on where we were in the first half of 2019.

The proportion of Under 25’s that participated in physical activity climbed from 87 per cent to 94 per cent between the first and second quarters of this year while the same in the over 65’s remained static at 74 per cent.

One gradient that has been maintained through the past two years is that of social grouping with 92% of ABC!’s but only 77 per cent of C2DE’s engaging in some form of activity.

Cycling, Swimming, Golf, Gaelic Football and soccer have all shown strong increases on a similar period last year, while personal fitness and running have dipped.

There has been a slow return to social participation in sport which was measured by club membership, attendance at events and volunteering.

Club membership fell to a low of 30 per cent in Q1 and Q2 2021, down from 35 per cent in 2019. On a positive note, 86 per cent of club members maintained their memberships through the pandemic and 89 per cent of current club members intend to renew their membership.

Volunteering fell dramatically during the pandemic to a low of 2 per cent in Q1 2021, however, it started to rise again to 5 per cent in Q2 2021.

81 per cent who volunteered before the pandemic intend to return to volunteering once restrictions have lifted.

While it is too short a period to draw a firm conclusion there is some worry about the re-emergence of a wider gender gap. In the first half of 2019 48 per cent of men were engaged in sport versus 44 per cent of women. In the first quarter of this year, both dipped to 35 and 34 per cent but as activity has returned, men have been quicker to embrace it with 45 per cent getting back as opposed to only 38 per cent of women.

“While It is heartening to see the percentage of people meeting the national physical activity guidelines through sport and recreational physical activity grow in Q2 2021, there is still some way to go to reach the target of 60%,” said Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin.

“Close attention must also be paid to the disparity in physical activity levels based on age and socio-economic factors.”

“Encouragingly, the report shows that 17 per cent of people took up a new sport or physical activity during the pandemic,” added Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers.

“Two in five people gave up activity due to Covid, but almost 90 per cent say they intend to return. A major priority for me in the coming weeks and months is getting people of all ages and abilities back to sport. We will be running a major new initiative this winter to help more people get back playing and participating in the sports and activities they love post the pandemic.”

“While the results of this mid-year report are encouraging on the whole, there are some key areas that warrant further attention in the coming months,” said Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy.

“As a sector that relies heavily on volunteers, we must ensure that the return to sport encourages and supports the safe return of volunteers. It is also imperative that we take action to reduce the gender gradient in participation. This reduced dramatically during the pandemic but today’s results show that it is starting to re-emerge.”

“The socio-economic gradient in sport participation is a key metric in the ISM and unfortunately we are starting to see the social class gradient re-emerge,” added Director of Participation and Ethics Dr Una May.

“While sports participation in the higher socio-economic group has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, there has been only a slight increase in lower socio-economic groups. This widening gap needs to be addressed through initiatives and programmes in the coming months to ensure that everyone has access to sport and physical activity opportunities”.

 

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