Speech By Kieran Mulvey - Chairman Of The Irish Sports Council

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Irish Sports Council I want to welcome you to today's announcement of the Irish Sports Council Investment Plans for 2014. We want to provide an overview of our investment strategy for the year ahead which, in total, represents a very significant public investment in sport for 2014.

€25m in Grants
Today's package of grants amounts to more than €25 million. Further grant announcements will be made next month. This is a substantial commitment from the Irish Public and I would like to acknowledge the work of Ministers Leo Varadkar and Michael Ring in securing a budget of €42.5 million for the Council. We appreciate that they have worked diligently and effectively on behalf of sport to ensure minimal reductions to the current budget.

The investment is a significant resource and we are confident that that it will be used effectively and efficiently by National Governing Bodies and Local Sports Partnerships. The sports organisations deliver important services which have a direct benefit to participants in sport and important benefits to the wider community.

LSPs
The 30 LSPS do excellent work throughout the year and the Council is very proud of what they have achieved in the few short years since their establishment. It is important to give an acknowledgement of that contribution on this national platform particularly as they make such an important contribution to social inclusion and advocacy for sport at community level.
Some years back the Local Sports Partnerships were set a target of generating at least 50% of their income from other sources. Each year that target has been met and surpassed. It is hugely important that all sports bodies become financially independent. There will always be an essential role for state funding in the strategic development and delivery of sport. It is also true that no organisation can rely entirely on the Council, or other state mechanisms, and we encourage all sports to generate alternative sources of income from the private sector.

The Council has always placed a particular emphasis on ensuring sport is progressive and attracts participants from every corner of Ireland, from every age group and from all social backgrounds. In fact this is fundamental principle of the Local Sports partnerships which aim to remove any barrier that prevents participation in sport.

Increased Participation

One heartening trend is the boost in membership in NGBs. For example Athletics Ireland has reached 49,000 and Cycling Ireland is more than 20,000. These encouraging numbers are reported in many sports and are testament to the participation programmes of the NGBs. The Council has consistently stated that National Governing Bodies are central to its mission and the contribution to participation underpins the value they bring to sport. The Council enjoys excellent working relations with the NGBs and appreciates the work they do in providing the great diversity of sport that is available in Ireland today.

Sporting Successes Continue/High Performance

Last year was an outstanding year for high performance sport in Ireland. A record 67 medals was achieved in European and World events across a multitude of sports. That total includes a number of World and European Gold medals and also includes a number of highly promising performances by emerging athletes. In addition to those performances we witnessed many winning performances in the green of Ireland in cricket, golf and rugby. It was truly a special year.

The High Performance Unit of the Council has been implementing the recommendations of the Review of the International Carding Scheme and the London Debriefs to build on what has been achieved in recent years, and this is underpinned in today's investment plan for 2014. In addition, the continued developments at the Institute of Sport, including yesterday's launch of the Pursuit of Excellence Programme, highlight the support and successful high performance planning towards Rio 2016 and beyond.

Finally I want to thank my colleagues on the Board and the staff of the Irish Sports Council for their ongoing excellence in the discharge of their duties. They put in a lot of time, energy and expertise both at Council and sub-committee level and for that I thank them.
I wish also to thank the Secretary General of the Department and his staff for their assistance and support.