The Federation of Irish Sport (the “Federation”) was established in 2002 by the National Governing Bodies of Sport (“NGBs”). The reasons behind the foundation of the Federation included the underrepresentation of the sector given the significant number of Irish people involved with sport, the increased investment in Irish Sport, the new projects coming on stream at a very high rate, the need for advice and consultancy, the increased pressure on NGBs and the need for a “voice for Irish Sport.”
The objectives of the Federation are:
- Raising Political Awareness of the benefits of sport
- Increasing State Investment in Sport
- Underpinning and Promoting Sport as part of Education
- Establishing and Promoting Sport as part of Health
- Increasing interaction between National Governing Bodies These objectives remain at the core of the Federation’s ongoing work.
Delivering a strong return on investment
In 2011 the Government invested €46.87 million in Irish sport.
So what did the taxpayer get for their investment?
- Irish sportsmen and sportswomen competed with distinction in 70 different countries around the world.
- 30 different sports hosted international events in Ireland.
- 280 million homes in 140 countries watched the Solheim Cup while a further 200 million in 100 countries watched the EUFA Europa League Final in the Aviva Stadium.
- Sports tourism generated in excess of €800 million.
- 1.4 million people tuned into the All Ireland Football Final.
- RTE TV dedicated 1,000 hours to sport in 2011 while the Irish Times carried over 2,000 pages of coverage of sport during the year.
- Ireland’s cricket team made us all proud beating England at the World Cup in India, chasing down the biggest total in a World Cup ever to do so
- Ireland’s elite sportsmen and sportswomen won 56 medals at European or World Championship level over the past 12 months.
- Ireland’s soccer team qualified for next year’s Euro Championships. In 2008 the finals of the Euro Championships were watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide with audience share regularly topping 70% in participating countries
- Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke won two of the season’s four golf majors and in the process ensured that Ireland as a golf destination would be top of mind for golfers worldwide.
- 84% of the available TV audience tuned into Ireland’s match against Australia in the Rugby World Cup whilst it was the most watched TV subscription programme in Australian TV history
- Almost 40% of the population (1.7 million) participated in sport on a regular basis with a further 270,000 volunteers ensuring that Irish sport happened on a weekly basis.
- Sport stimulated €1.8 billion of household expenditure – and supports in excess 38,000 jobs.
And that is only a small cross section of what sport delivered. Irish sport matters. In fact it has never mattered more!
