Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht

Issues Facing Women in Sport: Discussion

Photo of Fintan WarfieldFintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of our witnesses for joining us and for their very informative contributions. They have spoken very eloquently about the importance of the visibility of their sports, particularly on television. I am a League of Ireland fan and for years we have been without coverage of games. This year it struck me that with the launch of the streaming app, what I was really looking forward to was access to the club and the team I support and being able to watch them live when they are playing in Ballybofey or Derry. Are the witnesses content that enough is happening to make games available to the hardcore fans who really want to be there, as well as in terms of providing access to the more high-profile games about which they have spoken so eloquently?

There has been a lot of talk about centres of excellence. I refer to places like the Garvaghey Centre in Tyrone and the centres in Derry and Clare which have also been in the news. Not mentioning any centre specifically, are the witnesses satisfied that women are getting equal access to those centres of excellence?

Today the GAA launched its strategic plan for 2021 to 2026 but there was only one woman on the steering group involved in the production of that plan.

There is only one woman involved in that steering group. Are the witnesses concerned that the issues that have been raised today may not be given priority in terms of that review?

Those are my three questions, if any of the witnesses wishes to respond.

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