Sport to Fore 'In This Together'

Sport made a first appearance as part of An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar’s COVID-19 briefings on Friday with the launch of “In This Together” a campaign which aims to help everyone in Ireland to Stay Connected, Stay Active, and look after their Mental Wellbeing throughout these strangest of times.

The campaign – which starts today – encourages everyone to pick a new activity which could help them to feel a little healthier or a little better as we deal with Covid-19.

The Taoiseach was joined at the launch by Minister for Health, Simon Harris as well as by Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy.

“All of us would love to be back in action as soon as we possibly can,” Treacy said at the launch.

“But we’re absolutely going to take our guidance from government in terms of when the restrictions are going to be lifted.

“Sport is planning for that day. Some sports are non-contact, done outdoors, with a lot of physical distancing, and they will obviously be a priority.

“I think it will be a lot trickier for some of the contact sports, and we’ll just have to monitor that very carefully.

“But it’s up to Government to give the green light. We provide the information to the government and the decisions will be made.”

The new initiative gathers together a variety of different ways in which people can remain active and is hosted and promoted jointly by central government as well as local authorities around the country.

The sports element of the web resource is broken down into four categories – Activity at home, Keeping Kids Active, Activity for Older people and Outdoor Activity.

These in turn link to a variety of resources provided by, among others, Athletics Ireland, Swim Ireland, The GAA, the Camogie Association, Healthy Ireland and Local Sports Partnerships including in Dublin and Cork that have developed specific programmes.

There is useful advice to help people of every age group to cope with the ongoing restrictions, whether they are looking after children, dealing with self-isolation, preparing for the Leaving Cert, or coping with cabin fever.
All the information is being made available on gov.ie/Together, and on local authority websites, on social media, television, radio and newspapers throughout the Emergency.

“The impact of Covid-19 has been dramatic,” said An Taoiseach.

“As a country, we have come together to try to protect ourselves and save others. We have all played our part. We have pulled together in the most remarkable way. And it is starting to work.”

“I understand that people are anxious and they are worried. Above all, we all need to look after ourselves, whether you’re an older person cocooning at home, working at home or laid off during the Emergency.”

“We all need to stay physically active, stay connected with friends and family, and look after our mental health. So we are launching In This Together to encourage everyone to look after themselves. We’re in this together and we will come out of it together too. So let’s set ourselves the target to do something each day to make us feel a little healthier and a little happier.”

Sport for Business will host an informal meeting for Members tomorrow morning, April 28th at 11 AM to look at a number of the scenarios that are being planned for around a return to sporting activities. Reserve your place right here.