PARTICIPATION Irish Sports Council to allocate €2.25 million in 2006 to promote women’s participation in sport

Conference hears that less than one in five Irish women achieve WHO minimum physical activity standard necessary for good health

The innovative steps being taken by the Irish Sports Council to address the reality that less than one in five Irish women come close to conducting what the World Health Organisation (WHO) deems to be the minimum levels of physical activity necessary for good health, were set out at a conference in Sligo this weekend.

The CEO of the Irish Sports Council, John Treacy, told delegates attending the conference hosted by the Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership that the Council would be allocating €2.25 million in 2006 to promote women's participation in sport.

The conference, which examined how women can increase their participation in sport and physical activity, heard details of research conducted by the ESRI for the Irish Sports Council that supported the development of the 'Women in Sport Initiative' that the Sports Council launched earlier this year.

Mr. Treacy told delegates that the Council had clear objectives that it wanted to achieve, building on the announcement by Sports Minister John O'Donoghue that he was increasing the €750,000 that he made available in the 2005 Budget to address the issue of women's participation in sport by €1.5 million to €2.25 million in 2006.

Mr. Treacy explained that research conduced by the ESRI for the Irish Sports Council revealed that less than one in five Irish women came close to conducting the accumulated 30 minutes of physical activity per day, for at least five days per week, recommended by the World Health Organisation for good health.

Over 20 per cent do so little that from a health point of view they can be considered sedentary.

The 'Women in Sport Initiative' launched by the Irish Sports Council this year also sets out to address findings that the involvement of girls and women in sport and physical activity at school age and in adult life has tended to be much less than that of their male counterparts.

It was clear from that research that initiatives needed to be put in place to promote greater participation in sport and physical activity by women," Mr. Treacy remarked in his address to delegates attending the conference.

"The Irish Sports Council developed and launched its 'Women in Sport Initiative' this year with the objectives of raising overall physical activity levels among women and to support women's roles within sports organisations," he added.

Highlighting the important role that parents can play in encouraging and supporting their children to participate in sport from an early age into adulthood, Mr. Treacy noted that the response that the Sports Council had received to its 'Women in Sport Initiative' had been extremely positive since its launch in October.

39 per cent of female participants never socialise with other participants, compared to 23 per cent of male participants. Women are also less likely than men to volunteer for sport, or to attend sports events. When they do either volunteer or attend, they are more likely than men to do so because their own children or other young people are involved."