CLOSING ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ALL-IRELAND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
CLOSING ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ALL-IRELAND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE NEWCASTLE, CO. DOWN THURSDAY, 7th OCTOBER
Tá gliondar orm bheith i bhur measc inniú. Míle bhuíochas as an chuireadh a thug sibh dom teacht anseo.
Thank you for the invitation and the warm welcome to this important Conference. The significance of the conference is easily gauged from the many people attending, and from the broad cross-section of the sports leisure, voluntary and statutory sectors which are represented here today. Being here is an affirmation of the extraordinary role which sport plays in all aspects of modern life on this island.
Despite enthusiastic participation in many sports myself over the years from badminton to camogie, I regret to say I have no great achievements to speak of though I was once declared man of the match for a botched assault with an umbrella on a referee in a football match my husband was playing in. You will be relieved to hear I have now decommissioned the umbrella and am a firm believer in the value of dialoguing with the referee. In fact I have spent four of the last five Sundays in Croke Park offering valuable though regrettably largely ignored advice to the referees. I put the lack of effect down to the fact that since becoming President I don’t enjoy quite the same freedom of expression as I once did.
I do know though from my own direct experience just how very special sport is in every part of this island and how enormous an industry it has become in recent years. I know as a mother of three sports-mad teenagers the huge debt I owe those who run the clubs, motivate the kids, raise the funds, do the training and keep on doing it all year in and year out.
Those involved with the development of sport in the modern world have to face a complex array of circumstances and a much more complicated range of challenges than ever before. Sports administration now demands a sophisticated, well-focused and planned approach across the various areas of activity. It also benefits enormously from the sharing of experiences, the pooling of skills, the integration of endeavour, the humble acknowledgment that no-one has a monopoly on wisdom and that we have much to learn from each other as we struggle to keep pace with a frenetic sporting world.
I greatly treasure the memories of the afternoon last April in Áras an Uachtaráin when I had the privilege of meeting many of the individuals and organisations who are involved in sport at local, community level and at national level on a cross-border basis. It was fascinating to hear from them of the projects, initiatives and areas of co-operation underway in the interests of sport and of our young people in particular.
I also met many old friends that day and it evoked fond memories of my work as a member of the Steering Group that developed the Northern Ireland Strategy for the Development of Sport. Indeed, I am pleased to see the conference themes recognising the strategy and its key elements of: Starting Well, Staying Involved and Striving for Excellence.
This gathering does not need to be told the magic which involvement in sport can work in our lives, from the simple but profoundly important things like the friendships, the loyalty to team, to club, county, country, the commitment, the discipline, the exhilaration of being the best, the humble acceptance of being the loser, the well-being that comes from participating, from feeling alive and included.
It is particularly heartening to see the importance given to the role which sport can play in addressing the vexed issue of social inclusion and in targeting social need. So many of our children first truly encounter themselves and their character through sport. That journey of self-discovery so often leads to self-confidence, to fulfillment, to a real joy in life. Too many lives are lived on this island North and South in the awful absence of all those things - so much talent wasted, still-born because we have not yet found ways to mainstream those on the margins, those for whom life itself is still a spectator sport.
Disadvantage, of course is not confined to just the economic sphere. It has a key role in providing challenging equality of opportunities for people with a disability, minorities, the aged and indeed women, who often experience difficulties and subtle and not so subtle barriers to their full participation at all levels of sport.
I know that much good work is being carried out in all these areas, with increasing attention being paid to a co-ordinated and integrated approach across all agencies and voluntary bodies in addressing problems of disadvantage. That work will seedbed a new type of future for all of us for if we only use half our resource we can only expect to realise half our potential. I have great faith in the determination of both Sports Councils to play their part in transforming the landscape of opportunity for young people through sport.
It is reassuring that the sport strategies, North and South, have so many things in common including the identification of the need for all-island planning in relation to sport. Sport is about having fun, being healthy, taking part and taking home, if not a trophy, then a memory, the kind of memory which sustains and which makes life worthwhile. On this island we badly need a lot of fresh new shared memories. There are many areas where sport has given us those precious shared joys but there are many more where opportunities to share have been thwarted by political and historical circumstance. It is my hope and I know it is yours too, that the opportunities for co-operation in sport can now be expanded and enhanced in the interests of all and for the enrichment of life in all parts of the island.
It is great to see the many examples of co-operation already in place – for example, the code of ethics for children’s sport and in coach education. In the area of recreational sport, the Sport for All Leader Award, involving both Sports Councils, was launched in Omagh last December. Youth Sport Foyle and Youth Sport West, are in place, with the local education authorities in Derry, Donegal, Sligo and Fermanagh providing opportunities for children to take up sport, in the hope that they will maintain their involvement throughout their lives. There are few more important lifelong gifts that we can give our children.
I am sure that this Conference will have helped identify areas of potential benefit arising from co-operation across the island. I wish the Sports Councils and the Sports organisations every success in co-ordinating their activities and developing joint approaches which will make sports provision more effective to the advantage of Irish sport at all levels.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the organisers of this Conference for all their hard work and dedication in arranging such a successful coming together of people from so many different sports and organisations. I hope that this is just the first of many such events.
Mo bhúiochas libh arís. Is iontach an obair atá ar súil agaibh agus gúim gach rath oraibh sa todhchaí.