Marking 20 years of Women in Sport funding - and looking at what needs to happen next
This year marks 20 years since Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme was established with the aim of attaining equal participation between males and females in sport.
Since 2005 the Programme has allocated more than €30m to National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of sport, as well as supporting Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) in their delivery of initiatives targeting women and girls. This year €4m has been allocated to the programme.
NGBs and LSPs develop innovative programmes which target the four key pillars outlined in the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport.
The four pillars are:
- Active Participation
- Leadership & Governance
- Coaching & Officiating
- Visibility
The delivery of the Women in Sport policy is overseen by the Women in Sport Steering Committee, which provides guidance, advice and expertise on how to achieve its objectives.
The day-to-day operations are managed and coordinated by Women in Sport Manager, Bethany Carson. A former international swimmer, Bethany is the main support personnel when it comes to working with sport organisations on their programmes and initiatives under women in sport.
She is supported in her role by Nora Stapleton, Director of Strategic NGB Programmes and Women in Sport Lead.
Here Nora summarises what has been done so far under the pillars - and outlines what needs to happen next.
Active Participation
What has happened so far?
Sport Ireland promotes active participation in sport for women and girls through investment in NGB and LSP initiatives and policies that focus on creating inclusive and accessible environments, addressing gender gaps, and increasing female leadership and representation.
At Sport Ireland we recognise the importance of addressing the decline in participation rates, especially for girls moving into secondary school.
We have several key initiatives and strategies to promote active participation. These include:
- Her Moves, an initiative that inspires and supports teenage girls to be more active.
- Active Participation Day. As part of Women in Sport Week 2025, this day encourages women to engage in any activity they enjoy and even try something new.
- Funding for Women in Sport. Sport Ireland provides significant funding for projects and initiatives across various sport organisations, aiming to increase female involvement at all levels.
The Local Sports Partnerships are key contributors to the narrowing of the gender participation gap. Working with those hard-to-reach groups, the LSPs have created innovative programmes and initiatives targeted at where gaps exist in participation.
These include activities such as ‘Buggy Buddies’ for new mothers, Women on Wheels for those women hoping to get back on the bike, and menopause workshops for women navigating their perimenopause and menopause years, which means that women in all stages of life, are being supported to be active.
Sport Ireland continues to work to narrow the gender gap in club membership and event attendance, aiming for equal participation in sport by 2027. The 2024 ISM report shows that the gender gap is 2.8%, which is the lowest point it has been measured at.
What needs to happen next
Intersectionality and further diversity, beyond gender, needs to be taken into consideration as we move forward.
While on average, women and girls’ involvement in sport is less than their male counterparts across most areas, i.e., participation, coaching, officiating, governance, etc., the diversity within this group has been identified as an area in need of improvement.
I’m confident that the participation gap will be gone in the next year or two. The challenge then will be how to ensure the increase in participation numbers are translating into club membership and activity within NGB and club structures.
NGBs need to realise this increased interest in females who are and want to take part in sport, is real, but perhaps not happening within the current provisions available. The success of the likes of the LGFA’s Gaelic for Mother’s and Other’s, Basketball Ireland’s SociaBall, Swim Ireland’s Swim for a Mile, etc., highlights how women want to participate in the sport, but perhaps not within generic competition structures that club membership normally caters for.
Flexibility, short term memberships, involvement with personal goals attached to the end, these are all important features of the membership of the future I believe.”
Leadership & Governance
What has happened so far?
In 2016 when Minister O'Donovan, then Minister of State for Sport stated publicly that there was a need for gender balance on the boards of sport, it was a different landscape and the general consensus was that there was a lot to do to get there.
Increasing women in leadership and governance has been a key objective of Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport policy since its introduction in 2019.
The Sport Ireland Women in Leadership Snapshot launched in 2020, acted as a key measurement tool to track and understand the role of women in decision making in Irish sport.
Since the introduction of the policy in 2019, the number of women on boards across sport in Ireland increased from 24% to 48% as outlined in the 2024 Snapshot.
During that time, there was an increase in NGB applications to the Women in Sport Programme, seeking to fund initiatives to support an increase in the number of women in leadership positions. Initiatives included visibility projects to highlight role models and women paving the way in governance and leadership in sport to training programmes to support upcoming and future leaders as they progress along the path to board positions.
The Gender Balance on Boards Toolkit and Business Case resource, created in 2020, helped outline the business case for gender balance and provided actions that organisations could adopt in order to increase and maintain the number of women on their board.
In 2021 the Sports Action Plan published by the Government, revised its original target (30% by 2027) and stated National Governing Bodies (NGBs), Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) and other funded bodies had until the end of 2023 to reach the Government’s target of a minimum 40% female representation in the membership of their boards.
This forward-thinking change reflected developments in the corporate world and infused sport with fresh energy and commitment – but it also brought new challenges.
The Sport Ireland Women in Sport Leadership Programme launched in 2025 and already 40 women have availed of the training.
What needs to happen next?
While we have seen an increase in the number of women on the boards and committees of sport organisations across Ireland, we now need to turn our attention to the culture and inclusive environment that may or may not exist. Maintaining gender balance is not an easy task. People move on and off boards all the time, but should someone leave, it shouldn’t be because of a negative experience while on the board.
I’d also like to see a balancing out amongst those running the sport organisations in Ireland. There is good gender balance across the Local Sports Partnerships but in the NGBs and other funded bodies, women account for approximately 30% of CEO roles.
Finally, the men who I work with are all strong allies and advocate for improvements from a women in sport perspective, but this is not the case across wider society. We need to support and encourage men to play just as big a part in ensuring gender inequalities no longer exist in sport in Ireland.
Coaching & Officiating
What has happened so far?
Sport Ireland prioritises increasing female representation in coaching and officiating, from grassroots to high performance levels.
Similar to the trend in leadership and governance, Sport Ireland saw an increase in applications from NGBs to the Women in Sport Programme outlining initiatives aiming to increase the number of women in officiating and coaching.
The number of women gaining coaching accreditations has increased by 10%, growing from 33% in 2018 to 43% in 2024. Perhaps highlighting the impact of dedicated initiatives targeting females to motivate, encourage and support them through coaching courses. In addition, actions highlighted (and thus implemented by NGBs) in Sport Ireland’s Women in Coaching Toolkit and Women in Coaching Research Report has led to the creation of cross sport networks and mentoring, shadowing opportunities and an increase in the visibility of female coaches and officials across sport in Ireland.
Promoting inclusivity and equality of access in coaching and officiating is a key focus for Sport Ireland. Among the measures Sport Ireland has taken is the creation of the Women in High-Performance Coaching Network, which supports and promotes female representation in high-performance coaching. The network also works with those in the pathway to high-performance.
Under the guidance of Sport Ireland’s Head of High Performance Coaching, Ciaran Ward, the area of women in coaching will become a strategic pillar of Sport Ireland’s plan for growing the coaching workforce.
What needs to happen next?
While it is welcoming to see that we are closing the gap in the number of women versus men gaining coaching accreditations, we know that this trend does not continue into the high-performance space. More bespoke interventions are needed here and so this will be a focus into the future.
The theme of officiating is also an area where more can be done from a women in sport perspective. Sport Ireland’s new Officiating Manager, Clare Dowdall, will make a big difference in this space and I think we see a jump in the number of women taking charge of fixtures, races and other disciplines in the future.
Visibility
What has happened so far?
The ‘Visibility’ pillar focuses on increasing the visibility of women in sport and physical activity, both in terms of media representation and role models, from grassroots to high-performance.
Sport Ireland's Policy on Women in Sport identifies "Visibility" as a critical area for improvement. This pillar also aims to address the underrepresentation of women in media, promoting positive role models and showcasing female achievements in sport.
Increased visibility can inspire girls and women to participate in sport and physical activity, as well as encourage greater participation in coaching, officiating, leadership and governance roles within the sector.
Sport Ireland along with LSPs and NGBs implement various initiatives to enhance visibility, including promoting women's sports on social media, celebrating achievements through events such as Women in Sport Week, and creating resources for girls and women to engage in sport.
In recent years, Sport Ireland has prioritised increasing the visibility of women in sport through a range of initiatives.
In 2023, we launched the annual Women in Media & Sport Networking Forum to connect former female athletes with media professionals for expert roles, and funded research to identify barriers to equal coverage, co-designing solutions with the sector. This led to the first gathering of national sports editors to foster collaboration.
Recognising the key role that NGBs have, Sport Ireland provided workshops on business models, over-the-top media service and streaming solutions, and provided grants to stream women’s sport post-pandemic.
Sport Ireland has also offered punditry training, and currently partners with several media outlets to support women in sport media internships. In 2025 work began with media intelligence company Isentia to collect centralised data on women’s sports coverage across all forms of media.
We are at a time of unprecedented elite-level achievements — 62 of 112 high-performance medals in 2024 were won by women — and Sport Ireland is committed to ensuring these successes are visible and celebrated.
What needs to happen next?
We’ll continue to try and support women into punditry and analysts' roles in sport media but believe bringing all stakeholders together to work collaboratively is what needs to happen going forward.
To progress as a sporting nation and maximise the opportunities that will present for women’s sport, increasing viewership, enhancing fan engagement and interactions, and the use of technology and AI must be in everyone’s mind. The commercialisation of women’s sport is exploding around the world, and we can’t let Ireland be the last to get on board with this.
Nora Stapleton is Director of Strategic NGB Programmes and Women in Sport Lead.
Additional resources
Her Moves, Her Moves - A Sport Ireland Initiative - #HerMoves
Women in Sport Week 2025, Women in Sport Week | Sport Ireland
Sport Ireland’s Women in Coaching Toolkit Coaching Toolkit | Sport Ireland
Women in Coaching Research Report Women in Coaching Research | Sport Ireland