It will be interesting to look at the body language of sporting leaders and Ministers this week at the launch of the latest phase of research into sports participation in Ireland.
Tensions have bubbled under since the budget announced two weeks ago revealing that funding for current spending in sport would be broadly in line with last year and that the extra money for the National Sports Campus that boosted 2016 spending was not to be retained.
We wrote about those tensions in our column for the Sunday Business Post the week after the budget. Now the Federation of Irish Sport, representing National Governing Bodies, and the medium through which political comment on sport is channelled being not directly funded by public money, has made them more formal.
The statement which we carry in full below draws comparison to the money invested in Horse and Greyhound Racing, opening up further battle lines between what is ‘considered to be real sport’ in the words of one administrator, and not just ‘fodder for gamblers.’
That language alone is incendiary enough and it would perhaps better behove those in the wider sporting community to look at what has been the real benefit of lobbying by racing, to achieve the multi annual funding guarantee that did deliver a third consecutive €6 million boost and corresponding rise in terms of al its key metrics.
Sideshow
That is though merely a sideshow to the real struggle for hearts and minds that exists between those advocating funding towards elite performance on the basis of its inspirational kickstart to sports participation, and funding towards that participation directly.
The National Physical Activity Plan draws money from Health and other higher spending areas and is more closely integrated to societal good and impact than the traditional funding model through individual sports. It has access to a larger pot and is an easier argument for politicians.
The Federation makes strong arguments in relation to the role that sport can play in combatting physical inactivity, and a coherent financial argument that investment at an early stage to fund intervention will have long term benefit.
The challenge is that Government has been persuaded of this and is investing in that counter to inactivity but it is doing so through the medium of facilities and ideas through Healthy Ireland that go beyond or around the remit of sports performance programmes.
Park Runs
Park Runs are a neat summation of the difference of opinion. We wrote in our column that “there is a sense that it is better to get 100 people running around a park than one around an Olympic track. Both are vital but one has to be more vital than the other unless you are operating to an unlimited level of funding.”
Park Runs are volunteer driven but led by a paid staff in similar fashion to many Irish sports. They are backed by Sport Ireland but funded with support through Ireland Active. They are not a recognised NGB but they are making a difference to getting people moving.
We live in a world where people shape other people’s habits rather than organisations in the traditional sense. That’s not to suggest that there will be a breakdown of all the major organisations, just that they have to adapt to the way the world is rather than how it was.
There is a line in the statement below that ‘Government needs to start taking sport seriously.’ This will go down like the heaviest of lead balloons in Government circles this morning.
Assistance
Across a number of decades of dealing with seemingly intractable arguments we have always found that politicians and the political establishment react poorly if at all to being told they are doing things wrong. Where wins can be made is when a coherent plan on how to do things better, through the assistance of their good offices, is made.
We are not sure we are quite there yet in this debate. We will be watching the body language on Thursday though, ironically enough in the Royal College of Physicians.
Here is the statement from the Federation of Irish Sport issued yesterday and reprinted in full…
Budget 2017 confirmed that Sport Ireland funding, which supports the participation and high performance programmes of 74 National Sports Organisations and 26 Local Sports Partnerships as well as Coaching Ireland, the Institute of Sport, the National Sports Campus and Sport Ireland’s own research, anti-doping, and trails programme, is to remain static at the 2016 level of €47,266 million.
This contrasts with the €6 million increase in funding awarded to the Horse & Greyhound Fund next year, the third consecutive increase awarded to horse and greyhound racing by Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan. Government funding for horse and greyhound racing at €64 million for 2017 now exceeds the pre-recession peak of €62.6 million reached in 2008.
Current funding for sport remains someway off its 2008 peak of €57 million. This is despite the reality that sport and physical activity have a key role to play in public health with physical inactivity estimated to contribute up to 11% of the overall health spend, to the economy in supporting an estimated 40,000 jobs in Ireland, to tourism in generating up to €1 billion in revenue for Ireland each year, to active citizenship with more than 500,000 Irish adults volunteering in sport each year and to Ireland’s reputation with 89% of people believing sport has a positive effect on Ireland’s reputation.
Indeed, the stagnant funding levels is in reality a reduction when the impact of the two new programmes to which Sport Ireland is already committed are taken into account namely, the financial support for the Women’s Gaelic Players Association and the operating subsidy for the National Sports Campus.
Speaking of the decision not to increase funding, Chief Executive of the Federation of Irish Sport James Galvin said:
“There is a strong feeling amongst our members that it is time that the Government took sport seriously. In recent years, there has been acknowledgement of the role sport and physical activity plays in public health as evidenced through the publication of the National Physical Activity Plan, talk of the importance of participation, commendation of the role of volunteers in delivering grassroots sport and no shortage of congratulations when Irish athletes perform on the world stage.
“Yet when it comes to securing current funding for sport either through the direct allocation of funds or the introduction of initiatives to incentivise private sector investment in sport there has been little change. This is a source of great disappointment to our members who are working hard to achieve their dual mandate of increasing participation and allowing Irish athletes with talent to achieve on the world stage.”
Irish Sport bodies do welcome the confirmation that there will be another Sports Capital Programme next year to assist with the development, maintenance and upkeep of sports facilities and equipment right around the country. The continued development of the National Sports Campus is also welcome although there are concerns as to whether the second phase of the National Indoor Arena will proceed given the overall reduction in capital funding, as well as questions being raised about the future funding of operations at the Campus.
Chief Executive James Galvin stating:
“Whilst it is always welcome to see funding for sport be it capital or current to Irish Sport Organisations, we believe that it is current funding over capital investment that has the real potential to be transformative to Irish Sport. This is supported by international research which has found that people and programmes are more important to participation than facilities. Our members are also concerned that the National Sports Campus, a very welcome addition to the national infrastructure, will not be completed given the pressures likely to come on capital spending centrally and indeed, that the facilities already constructed will be sufficiently well funded to operate.”
