IRISH SPORTS COUNCIL Irish Sports Council at Joint Oireachtas Committee
Mr John Treacy, Chief Executive, Irish Sports Council
Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Ladies & Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Irish Sports Council I would like to thank the Committee for inviting us here today. We were provided with the opportunity to meet with you in advance of the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We were delighted to have an opportunity to brief the Committee on the athletes' preparations and prospects for the Games. We also provided information on the structures, systems and the investment that supports them.
We reported that Irish athletes were on track to meet the targets set out in Athens Review of 2005. We undertook a rigorous examination with our partner governing bodies of sport as to what could realistically be achieved in Beijing. Our target for the Olympic Games was 6 to 9 finalists. The target was met and exceeded with the Irish team enjoying significant success in Beijing.
I would like to introduce you to my colleagues. I am joined by Finbarr Kirwan who is the High Performance Manager of the Irish Sports Council. Finbarr has been responsible for delivering the elite sport programmes for the past 6 years and he is the driving force behind the programmes we are going to discuss today.
I am also joined by Gary Keegan, Technical Director of the Institute of Sport. I am sure you are aware of Gary's outstanding contribution to Irish sport as Performance Manager of Irish boxing and we are delighted that he has joined us at the Institute. Gary is part of a team of experts at the Institute who are providing direct services to athletes and coaches, augmenting the existing work of the Council with new science, medical, technical and lifestyle services.
The Institute was established in August of 2006 which was too late in the Olympic cycle for it to be expected to have an impact in Beijing. Despite this the Institute definitely had a profound impact on the performance of many of our athletes and we are gratified that the athletes have publicly acknowledged this input.
At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Ireland won three medals from nine finalists across all sports. Obviously the boxing squad provided the main highlights, producing a series of remarkable performances that won the medals that delighted the nation. Kenneth Egan, Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes demonstrated their talent to the world and won the elusive medals. It is an amazing statistic that all 5 Irish boxers were beaten by opposition who went on to win the gold medal. Further it should be noted that since Beijing boxing have won medals at the European Championships, the Women's World Championships and the World Youth Championships. We can see a number of young boxers emerging through the system with realistic expectations of international success.
In the canoe slalom Eoin Rheinisch delivered the performance of his life and was beaten by a whisker into 4th place. Race Walkers Olive Loughnane and Robert Heffernan excelled, finishing 7th and 8th in their 20 k events. Paul Hession put Irish sprinting on the global stage. Rosin McGettigan and Alistair Cragg reached their track finals. All of this despite major injuries to two of our athletes that we believed had the potential to reach finals.
The eventing team finished 8th and the two rowing crews finished 10th. Our swimmers broke national records. Ger Owens and Phil Lawton won two races at the Olympic sailing regatta in Qingdao. We saw breakthroughs in triathlon, badminton, fencing and track cycling. The target for those sports was qualification for the Olympic Games. That was achieved and the performances were a bonus.
This was an Irish team marked by a series of significant performances, a team that was well prepared and that delivered across all the disciplines. They confounded the naysayers and the critics. Everybody involved should be proud of what they achieved.
Ireland excelled at the Paralympic Games with 22 finalists, 24 personal bests and 5 world records. The team won 5 medals; 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Overall it was a fantastic achievement, well merited on the basis of talent, planning, hard work and dedication. The highlights were the medal performances of new talents Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop and Darragh McDonald and the re-emergence of Gabriel Shelley in boccia.
Overall that is a very significant body of achievement and, for Ireland, represents major progress in recent years and must be considered a success. Anybody who is closely involved in elite sport will have noted the general improvement in standards since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. There were three top 8 finishes in Sydney, two provided in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters by the incomparable Sonia O'Sullivan.
The notable improvements at the Olympic and Paralympic Games are not in isolation. Let us look at Irish sport since Beijing. The Irish rugby team won the Grand Slam in Cardiff last month. It is the only the second time in our history and the first time in 61 years. The Irish Sports Council has invested €25 million in Irish rugby since 2001. That investment develops the playing base and expands the game in this country. We are proud of our involvement with Irish rugby, enjoy an excellent working relationship with the IRFU and are delighted for everyone involved.
Irish golf is going through a run of unprecedented success. Michael Hoey won the Portugese Open last Sunday. Micheal is one of the golfers the Irish Sports Council has supported in recent years through the Team Ireland Golf Trust. This programme aims to help aspiring golf professionals break through to the main tours. Other European Tour winners Peter Lawrie and Damian McGrane were supported for many years. We will invest €230,000 in the Trust this year, making a total of €2.25 million since 2000.
Tomorrow an extraordinary Irishman, Padraig Harrington, aims to win his third Major in a row when he tees off at the US Masters. He will be joined by the most exciting talent in world golf Rory McIlroy. They both emerged through the Irish amateur structure of the Golf Union of Ireland supported by the Irish Sports Council. The Irish team are European Champions in amateur golf, producing yet more talent for the amateur and professional games.
The Irish cricket team are in South Africa this week competing in the ICC Trophy, which is the qualification event for the next Cricket World Cup in Asia in 2011. The team is excelling in the tournament, has already qualified for the Super 8 stage and is on target to reach the 2011 World Cup. Cricket Ireland aims to repeat its heroics of 2007 when it qualified for the final Super 8 section of the elite tournament of world cricket. We strongly supported their efforts in 2007 and are supporting them with additional high performance funding in 2009.
Some other recent highlights include podium finishes for David O'Loughlin at the Track Cycling World Cups in Beijing and Copenhagen. Dublin swimmer Barry Murphy reached a final at the European Short Course Championships in Croatia in December breaking Irish records at the meet. In September Ireland retained its place in the global elite of showjumping when finishing 5th overall in the Samsung Super League. The ISA Academy is producing talented young sailors including the junior World Champion in the Laser 4.7 class. Philip Doran from County Wexford won that event in Crotia in November.
The Irish track and field team enjoyed great success at the European Indoor Championships in Turin in February. Mary Cullen and Derval O'Rourke won medals in the 3,000 meters and the 60 meters hurdles. A new generation of talented athletes is emerging. For example in recent weeks Kelly Proper and Martin Fagan broke long standing senior Irish records.
November was a great month for Irish amateur boxing. John Joe Joyce, Eamon O'Kane and Ross Hickey won medals at the
European Senior Boxing Championship in Liverpool. Katie Taylor retained her World Championships in China. Ray Moylett from Mayo won gold at the World Youth Championships in Mexico, leading an Irish team to a best ever 4 medals.
World champions, world records, European medals, Grand Slams, major championships, Irish records, Paralympic medals, Olympic medals, all won and achieved over a short period of 8 months. The Irish Sports Council supports all of these sports and is very proud to do so.
Our collective aim is sustained, repeatable success at international level. It is obviously being achieved in certain Irish sports, such as the examples cited above, directly within our remit. Success in Irish sport is no longer a random event. We do not rely on one or two exceptional sports people to provide some success at international level. Consistent achievements arise from good systems, solid planning and sustained investment.
Measurable and deliverable targets are set and publicly communicated. Ultimately, these targets validate and justify the investment of public money in elite sport. We are confident that the Beijing Review will serve Irish sport well. It is the road map to London 2012.
For London we will have to set targets and state them publicly. The Athens Review targets were for the long term and it was a great result to exceed them first time out. The target of 9 finalists converting into 3 medals will be the baseline for the whole team. Some examples of targets in sports are that Swim Ireland have set 6 A standards as their target, Triathlon Ireland want 3 competitors at the London Olympics, Cycling Ireland want to qualify a track cycling pursuit team and Irish hockey aim to qualify either of their men's or women's senior team. These are high standards but we hope that we can achieve them.
In October 2008, the Irish Sports Council established a Steering Group to direct its quadrennial high performance review, known as the Beijing Review. This group was chaired by Judge Rory MacCabe, S.C., and comprised Mr Pat O'Neill and Mr Gary Owens. It was assisted by an independent consultant, Dr Neil Tunnicliffe of Wharton Consulting.
In the course of the Review Dr Tunnicliff interviewed representatives of all Olympic and Paralympic sports and relevant agencies Dr Tunnicliff received responses to a questionnaire from 28, of 55, Olympic athletes and 72, of 79, Paralympic athletes.
The exception was the Olympic Council of Ireland which declined an invitation to participate and completed a separate review of the Games. Clearly it would have been much better had the OCI collaborated with us as it has done with previous reviews. Since 2001 we have worked with the OCI on the basis of the Sydney Review which was based on cooperation and mutual respect.
That Review highlights the obligation of the OCI under the Olympic Charter to maintain harmonious and co-operative relations with appropriate Government bodies. We remain open to working with the OCI as we did right up to Beijing through the Olympic Performance Committee.
Three medals in Beijing was the third-best performance in Irish history, bettered only in 1956 and 1996. The target set in 2004 was six to nine finalists, from which two to three medals might be won. In fact there nine finalists, or top eight finishes, and two other top ten finishes. The targets were achieved. For context in the half century since 1960, at 12 Games, Ireland won only 11 Olympic medals in total. Nine individual athletes have been medal-winners.
For the Paralympic Games the target set in 2004 was 12 to 15 finalists. Ireland achieved 22 qualifiers for finals, or equivalent. There were five world records and 24 personal bests. The three gold, one silver and one bronze were won in three sports; athletics, boccia and swimming. Their targets were achieved and exceeded.
The key finding of the Beijing Review was that Ireland demonstrated an improvement on Ireland's performances in 2004 and all of the outcome targets set by the Athens Review were fulfilled. According to the Review this progress is attributable to the effects of increased investment.
The strongest output of the Beijing cycle in has been the demonstration of "what good looks like" within the boxing and Paralympic programmes. Crucially the Review found that those sports and athletes which were stable in their build up to the Games, and which were able to treat and manage the event as a sport specific championship, fared well in Beijing. This is a vital outcome and we must address this issue if we are to find further success in London.
The Beijing Review also identified areas of weakness and possible improvement. For example some performances were marked by psychological deficit in Beijing. Previously the weakness was in physical preparation. We have managed to close that gap and, while in certain cases it may be an issue, in general terms Ireland no longer lags behind in terms of physical conditioning. However we recognize that we have work to do in sports psychology and programmes are being put in place to change that situation.
One notable comment out of the Review is that money is no longer a barrier to achieving success for Irish athletes. We have closed the gap in terms of financial investment in elite sport. There is a need to maintain and enhance the investment notwithstanding the current financial climate. It would be a shame if the progress of recent years was to be unwound due to a return to bad old days of no funding. It is important to stay in business, keep working and retain the expertise in sport. Otherwise we will be left behind again and the gap with the rest of the world will return.
The planning and implementation process for London is advanced. A number of critical appointments have been made in recent weeks. New Performance Directors have been appointed in rowing, swimming and cycling and a new National Men's Coach in hockey.
We are accelerating the activities of Institute of Sport which is becoming the technical arm of the Irish Sports Council. The Institute will add to the good work of recent years by providing medical, science, technical and lifestyle supports to athletes. I am delighted to report that the Institute , based at Abbotstown, is getting on with its vital business and making a real difference to Irish sport.
Finbarr Kirwan and Gary Keegan and their colleagues have good working relationships with all the performance directors, the key athletes and their support staff. We feel that our direct and collegial approach has served us all very well. We use Ireland's small size to our advantage by responding directly to the needs of our athletes. This is of benefit to the Institute which is well placed to build on these relationships.
I am happy to report that we enjoy an excellent working relationship with Sport Northern Ireland and the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. We have an open communication with them and collaborate to ensure that athletes who qualify for support in both systems get the best assistance available without duplicating resources. We will work continuously to ensure close alignment between the two systems for the best results for all Irish athletes.
The Irish Sports Council will invest €7.3 million through Finbarr Kirwan and his colleagues in the High Performance Unit. The International Carding Scheme provides more than €2.2 million in direct funding to athletes across the sports spectrum. At one time athletes relied on this scheme to provide for all of their needs. Now, happily with increased investment in sport, it is used as income and allows sportspeople support the lifestyle required as a full time international athlete.
€5.12 million is provided to sports to implement Performance Plans. This planning system has been a major and successful advance on past practice. It empowers professional Performance Directors in each sport to drive a plan, from junior to world class, in their sports.
We have met with all the sports and set out our plans for 2009 and beyond. The focus is now on implementing the agreed plans and the practical business of supporting the athletes and coaches.
Our key allies and supporters in the investment strategy is the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr Martin Cullen TD, and the senior officials at the Department. Simply we would not be able to do our work without their support. I want to acknowledge their support here today.
The Council recognizes that good governance within governing bodies is an essential pre-requisite to sustained long term success at elite level. It is essential that the governing bodies are well run and that they can operate effectively and independently. Our role is to work in collaboration, addressing the areas that are beyond the scope of small agencies.
We have a small team at the Council who work with governing bodies and a huge amount of their work is taken up with issues which fall under the heading of governance. A special resource is being developed which we anticipate will be of major benefit and this "governance toolkit" will be rolled out this year.
When we met in 2008 we were accompanied by my colleague Dr Una May who is the manager of the Anti-Doping Unit. In fact we are hosting a major international conference on anti-doping in April with delegates from 37 countries attending. The major challenge for 2009 is the full roll-out of the new Irish rules which were developed and published in line with the new WADA Rules. This significant body of work is proceeding very smoothly. We have come to expect a very high standard from Dr May and her team and we are very proud of their contribution to Irish sport.
The Council has two key strategic areas; high performance and participation Broadly for every €1 we invest in elite sport we invest €3 in participation initiatives. Much excellent work is being done in the area of participation and we would welcome the opportunity to brief the Committee in more detail on that area of our work.
In the meantime I refer the Committee to the Irish Sports Monitor, our new research publication that provides detail information on participation rates and trends in Ireland. One statistic of note is that 23.9% of the adult population is highly active, 28.2% is fairly active, 29.8% is just active and 18.2&% is sedentary. Internationally that places Ireland around mid-table with some scope to catch up with the world's best performers.
The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism recently completed the Value for Money and Policy Review of the Irish Sports Council. I am happy to report that it is a strong endorsement of our work and our performance in recent years. It commends progress in high performance as well as our work in anti-doping, the research programme, and the impact of Local Sports Partnerships on participation.
It commends the Council for its work in creating a safer environment for children in sport. The Report concludes that the current structures in sport are the most effective way of implementing Irish sports policy at this time.
To finish I want to take you back to January 2008. There were 28 athletes qualified for the Beijing Olympics and there was public comment that Ireland would seriously underperform at the Games. The Irish Sports Council was undeterred and stood squarely with the athletes and the governing bodies of sport. We supported them right up to the Games. We never lost confidence in our sports or in our athletes. They rewarded our faith with qualification, with records, with top 8 finishes and with medals.
I want to thank the athletes for that and for giving the country a lift. Kenneth Egan, Darren Sutherland, Paddy Barnes, Jason Smyth, Michael McKillop, Darragh McDonald and Gabriel Shelly, you did your country proud.
Thank You