Bell Time Magazine Autumn/Winter 2015 | страница 36

BellTIME

BellTIME

Federation

of Irish

Sport
Sport is hugely important to Irish
people whether it be supporting our
local GAA club in the county
championship, roaring on our national
soccer, cricket or rugby teams, or
admiring the global feats of our boxers
or golfers on the world stage.
When it comes to sport we are
passionate and invariably we have
‘punched above our weight.’
The sheer scale and variety of sports
has spawned a huge industry and
many of the National Governing Bodies
of Sport and Local Sports Partnerships
require a cohesive voice when
advocating on their behalf with
government agencies.
To that end, the Federation of Irish
Sport (the “Federation”) was
established in 2002 by the National
Governing Bodies of Sport (“NGBs”).
The Federation provides an articulate
and professional “voice for Irish
Sport” and is a “go to” organisation
for a host of sporting bodies seeking
authoritative advice or advocacy.

To get a flavour of the importance of sport in the lives of Irish people consider
some of the following
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We have 2.5 million participants in sport made up of 1.7 million adults &
800,000 children 16 & under
70 plus different National Sports Organisations/Governing Bodies (“NGBs”)
and 30 Local Sports Partnerships
Sport is the largest single source of volunteering in Ireland with over 500,000
people volunteering in sport each week
38% of Irish adults are members of a sports club
70% of sports participants say meeting people is a reason for playing
Physical inactivity is responsible for 6% of deaths globally
€1.6 billion is the estimated cost of physical inactivity in Ireland.

Sport does not just bring enjoyment and personal health benefits but it has huge
material and economic benefits for the country.
• Sport is r Y