The Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference, in partnership with Lidl, returns on Tuesday, December 1st, marking the 12th edition of an event that has tracked, challenged, and celebrated the development of women’s sport in Ireland.
This year’s conference will take place at Lidl Ireland HQ in Tallaght, Dublin, with guests invited to arrive from 9:30 am for a 10:00 am start, with the scheduled finish at 13:30, followed by a light lunch on site.
The theme for 2026 will be From Progress to Permanence.
Across the past 14 years, the Women in Sport Conference has reflected a period of remarkable change in Irish sport from questions of visibility and participation to increasingly substantial conversations around investment, leadership, coaching, commercial value, media coverage and influence.
In December, we’ll focus on what comes next: how the momentum built over more than a decade can translate into lasting change across the sporting landscape.
Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn will be the first keynote speaker at the 2026 Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference, in partnership with Lidl, taking place at Lidl HQ in Tallaght on Tuesday, December 1st.
Ní Chuilinn will join Sport for Business’ Rob Hartnett for an opening conversation on Where Are We Now? The State of Women’s Sport in Ireland, looking at progress made over the past decade, the areas where change remains too slow, and the priorities that should shape the next phase of policy, investment and leadership.
The former RTÉ broadcaster is now Seanad Spokesperson on Arts, Media, Sport and Communications and Leas Cathaoirleach of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport.
In recent months, Ní Chuilinn has been closely engaged in developing the next National Sports Policy, including hosting a policy workshop in Dublin in October ahead of drafting the new framework. She has highlighted inclusion, safeguarding and the changing definition of Irish sport as areas that must be addressed in the next policy cycle.
She has also been an active voice on integrating the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association, arguing for greater clarity, stronger timelines and equality of opportunity for girls across Gaelic Games.
The discussion will ask whether progress in women’s sport is now sufficiently embedded, what remains vulnerable, and what decisions must be taken now if equality of opportunity, participation, leadership and investment are to become permanent features of Irish sport rather than ambitions still to be pursued.
Building Towards December 1st
The 2026 conference marks the latest chapter in a Sport for Business Women in Sport series that has been running for more than a decade, bringing together athletes, administrators, broadcasters, coaches, policymakers and commercial leaders to examine how the landscape is changing.
The event will begin at 10:00 am, with guests gathering from 9:30 am at Lidl HQ in Tallaght.
We’ll share further programme announcements in the coming weeks as we count down to December 1st.
Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference 2026
In partnership with Lidl
Tuesday, December 1st
Lidl HQ, Tallaght, Dublin
Arrival and networking from 9:30 am
Conference begins at 10:00 am
To reserve your place, you can book a ticket below.
Secure Early Bird Tickets below. This is one of our keynote events of the year and always reaches capacity.
Ten Years of Serious Support
The first conversation we can reveal will feature Lidl Ireland CEO Robert Ryan in a fireside chat with Rob Hartnett.
The discussion will look back at Lidl’s decision to support Ladies Gaelic Football and the journey that has followed over the past decade.
When Lidl Ireland began its partnership with the LGFA in 2016, women’s sport occupied a very different place in the Irish sporting and commercial landscape.
Ten years on, Ladies Gaelic Football has grown substantially in profile, participation, media coverage and commercial strength, while the Lidl partnership has become one of the most recognisable and sustained commitments to sport in Ireland.
The conversation with Ryan will explore the thinking behind that original decision, how the partnership has evolved, what Lidl has learned from investing consistently rather than episodically, and how the business views the partnership across many aspects of its operation.
Fourteen Years of Conversation and Change
Since the first Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference took place at UCD Business School in 2013, the landscape has shifted considerably.
The conversations have evolved alongside that change — from establishing why women’s sport deserved greater attention, through questions of representation, participation, and visibility, to increasingly sophisticated issues around leadership, commercial growth, professionalisation, and long-term sustainability.
The 2026 conference will draw on that 14-year journey while looking firmly ahead.
We will examine the state of women’s sport in Ireland, the pathway for women into senior coaching positions, the international development of women’s sport, leadership and influence, and the continued evolution of Ladies Gaelic Football.
There will also be a special Sport for Business element recognising three new entrants to our 2026 list of the 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport.
We’ll announce further speakers and individual sessions each week between now and the conference.
We can promise a morning built around real conversations, practical experience, and a determination to identify what needs to happen next.
To reserve your place, you can book a ticket below.
Lidl Ireland, Sky Ireland, Vodafone, AIB, Sports Direct, Sport Ireland and AIG are among the many organisations supporting Women in Sport initiatives that are full members of Sport for Business.
If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the conversation happening every day around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.
Image Credit: Sport for Business
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