Women’s sport in Ireland is getting a fairer hearing than in the UK but there is still a long way to go to make it normal.

We were part of a great event at Croke Park yesterday when Liberty Insurance unveiled the results of their 2018 wave of research into Women in Sport and gathered a great panel and audience to discuss the findings.

Joy Neville kicked off proceedings with the future looking idea that we will have won when what we do is no longer news.

There was plenty of universal truth in her one to one interview with Joanne Cantwell including an honest reflection on how close she came to quitting Rugby as a referee after only a few months.

“I only began to enjoy it when I gave up on the idea of always wanting to have the perfect game. We all make mistakes but we cannot let them drag us away from always trying to be better.”

Better for Neville meant going on to referee a Women’s Rugby World Cup Final just over three years after starting in the role, taking charge of a Guinness PRO14 men’s match and being named the World Rugby Referee of the Year in 2017.

Those achievements featured prominently in social media listening undertaken by Olytico which tracked the massive year that Women’s sport had around the world from all countries and all sports.

Author, journalist and founder of Women in Football Anna Kessell was a valuable addition to the panel of Neville, Fiona Coghlan and Mags D’Arcy.

She brought a sense of the scale of possibility for what Women could achieve in sport and highlighted the impact of getting girls involved in the sport as players, participants, spectators and beyond the field in areas of coaching and administration.

She spoke of the history of Women’s Football in England, Banned by the FA for over 50 years but now stepping out of the shadows with the addition of three Women to the Main Governing Body of the sport.

Mags D’Arcy revealed that she was now working with Davy Fitzgerald as a Goalkeeping coach with the Wexford Men’s Senior Hurling team, like Neville stepping into a male world and making her presence normal and accepted by what she can do.

Speaking from the floor Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business highlighted the coming pilot of having PE as part of the leaving cert curriculum here as being of huge importance.

“In September we will have 200 schools taking the first step towards a greater level of importance being attached to sport and physical activity at a critical age.”

“We need to see that there are an equal number of girls taking part at that level as that is where the life long connection to sport becomes embedded.”

Listen Back to Mags D’Arcy and Rob Hartnett with Sean O’Rourke on RTE Radio 1 yesterday morning.

Boys have always had the advantage of sport being seen as part of their growing up. Now it is time to change that so the benefits of sport are seen as being as equally available and encouraged as the benefits of science, languages and general education.

“We’re delighted to be sharing the results of this REDC poll today and shining a light on the progress being made in the area of women in sport in Ireland,” said Deirdre Ashe, Head of Personal Lines at Liberty Insurance.

“2017 represented an important year for women’s sport and the success of Ireland’s hosting of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Joy Neville being awarded World Rugby referee of the year and record-breaking attendances at the All Ireland Ladies Football Final proved to be particular highlights.

“However, our research suggests more needs to be done to generate a broader awareness of women’s sport, its heroes, rivalries, and narratives. This has to start at an early age. If children are not exposed to female sport, they are highly unlikely to engage with it as adults.”

We will be hosting a special discussion at RTÉ on Thursday, march 8th, International Women’s Day, with Sarah Keane, Joan O’Flynn, Noelle Healy and Ryle Nugent. Find out more.

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