Sport Ireland Launches Safeguarding Refresher Resource

Sport Ireland today launched Safeguarding 1 Refresher, a web based education resource aimed at providing further training to those who have previously attended a Safeguarding workshop of equivalent.

The web resource, which was developed in partnership with Sport Northern Ireland, was unveiled today at a briefing event for National Children’s Officers in Dublin, which was addressed by representatives of National Governing Bodies for Sport.

The content contains four modules which will provide persons in roles with regular responsibility for children an opportunity to learn about: best practice procedure; understanding of why safeguarding children and young people in sport is important; recognising the different categories of child abuse and identify the signs of abuse; and the responding, recording and reporting issues of poor practice or abuse.

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, today welcomed the development of this education resource. He said: “The safeguarding of children in sport is of paramount importance and Sport Ireland has been at the forefront of ensuring that training and resources are made available to those with responsibility for children. I am aware Sport Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland enjoy a close working relationship over many years and I welcome the continuation of this in the cross-border partnership which underpins this project, which will help to ensure that all children on the island of Ireland are given the opportunity at an early age to participate in sport in a safe and positive environment.”

Sport Ireland Chairman, Kieran Mulvey, echoed the Minister’s comments: “The safety of children and young people in sport is high on the agenda for Sport Ireland. The development of this refresher course will help ensure that everyone, regardless of age or circumstance, can participate in sport in a safe environment.”

The refresher course content was developed by Sport Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland in collaboration with welfare officers from a number of National Governing Bodies for Sport and .

Sport Ireland Chief Executive, John Treacy, added: “I would like to thank the staff of the Sport Ireland Ethics Unit, Sport Northern Ireland and the representatives of the various National Governing Bodies for their work on developing this refresher resource. Sport Ireland will continue to develop and invest in our ethics programme to ensure children and young people’s experiences of sport are fun, enjoyable and conducted in the spirit of fair play.”

The web resource was designed in collaboration with Ineqe Group, who specialise in safeguarding and child protection, both in the offline world and in the digital world.