Dr. Una May:

We support such a programme. The Olympic Federation of Ireland has taken responsibility. We supported the pilot of a programme called Dare to Believe, which is for athletes who have retired. They go back into schools, share their experiences and promote the concept of high-performance activity in everyone’s life. Their experiences are shared with young people, and in that way these retired athletes impart their knowledge of how to set goals and implement the skills they obtained during their high-performance careers in daily life.

As was mentioned, we have also done a great deal of work with the athletes. We get considerable support from them with our campaigns, and we have some good athletes who are always willing and supportive when we seek role models to promote any kind of initiatives. An example would be the Let's Get Back campaign or some of our Department of Health campaigns, in respect of which we have had good support from our athletes. It has not just been in the sports sector, but in delivering the message beyond that realm as well.