Minister Chambers address to Shared Island Dialogue ‘Breaking down barriers and tackling shared challenges: Sport cooperation on the island’

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Thank you, Joanne. I must say it’s a great pleasure to be joining you all today for the Shared Island Dialogue on ‘breaking down barriers and tackling shared challenges: sport cooperation on the island’.

Today’s event is particularly exciting as it is the first time we have had the opportunity to have an in-person audience at one of these dialogues.

Over the past year we have convened these events online. While that will remain an important part of our engagement, it is great to have this opportunity to meet together and discuss face to face the opportunities for deeper North/South cooperation and deeper societal connections as we develop our sport programmes and policy.

I’m very glad that so many are able to also join online, from right across the island and beyond.

We have a long and vibrant tradition of interaction and collaboration on an all-island basis in sport. Some 46 of our sporting bodies are organised at an all-island level, or about two thirds of all NGBs; our international teams in sports as diverse as rugby, cricket and hockey draw on the talent of people from all parts of this island for their success; and, our Olympic heroes come from all backgrounds, cultures and traditions, representing the full diversity of communities and traditions on the island of Ireland.

And just as importantly, these links are not only at the elite levels.

Sport also brings the rest of us - mere mortals - together North and South, as we play, compete and support our clubs in matches and competitions up and down the island.

Today’s Dialogue is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the existing links, and to look at how we can harness even more the benefits of interaction and cooperation in all aspects of sport.

We should recognise also that in some instances the fact of two jurisdictions on the island means there will be different approaches taken by individuals, sports organisations or the two Administrations. That’s fine too.

Whatever stripe or structure is chosen in a given sport - by any person or group - we need to always champion and demand respect and tolerance in sport, and never allow it to be misrepresented as a marker of difference or us and them, as it has, at times, in the past.

And while challenges still remain that we must work to overcome; the leadership given by so many in sport - like Barry McGuigan, who I’m delighted is here to speak today - coupled with the consistent and tireless work of clubs and organisations at a grassroots level has helped all of our sports to be a deep and shared source of pride, which is central to the vitality of our community relationships on this island.

The Shared Island initiative was launched by the Taoiseach to find new ways to work together North and South, to increase cooperation, connection and mutual understanding and to fully realise the potential of the Good Friday Agreement.

When one considers the two themes being discussed this afternoon – community bridge-building and achieving higher youth sport participation – it’s all too apparent that achieving successful outcomes under both can be enhanced by collaborative approaches. We are facing the same challenges.

The picture painted by the CSSPA Study of a few years ago, an all-island research collaboration tells a story of just 13% of children between the ages of 10 and 18 across the island meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines. We cannot – and we are not – comfortable with that state of affairs and we have to find ways of changing it for the better.

I see North-South collaboration and cooperation as playing an important role in this context. Towards the end of last year, I launched a Sports Action Plan covering the period up to the end of next year. One of its actions commits us to continue to engage positively on a North-South basis, to facilitate the delivery of sport and physical activity to all on the island, and to enable the sharing of best practice and access to facilities.

In practical terms, I would like to move forward on this commitment under three broad headings:

Firstly, let’s aim for more sporting exchanges between sports clubs on the island, with inclusion being the primary focus. I have asked Sport Ireland to liaise with Sport Northern Ireland to explore how best we might promote and encourage that outcome. If some financial support is required, that is a road we are certainly prepared to travel.

Secondly, we should aim for more research collaboration. There is already a very welcome initiative underway for a few years called the Irish Physical Activity Research Collaboration – IPARC in short. I had the privilege of addressing the last two annual conferences of IPARC, which were held virtually. It was quite evident that there is some great work being done by institutes and universities from all parts of Ireland. I would like to see IPARC develop its collaborative effort even further and to that end I would like to confirm this afternoon that we will be providing increased financial support for the holding of an in-person annual conference of IPARC next year.

Thirdly, I believe that we can also aspire to a greater sharing of sports facilities. As result of record investments in recent years especially, the standard and variety of sports facilities have never been better and they will improve still further; just over a fortnight ago, I launched a €150m sports capital programme. We already have world class sports facilities on this island, such those at Sport Ireland’s campus at Blanchardstown where high performance athletes from North and South regularly train and I look forward to their further development in the coming years.

To conclude, I look forward to hearing the contributions for today’s Dialogue and I encourage you all to get engaged and bring your experience and suggestions to the discussions.

Thank you.

Closing Remarks

I want to thank all our panellists and contributors to today’s Dialogue.

It has been a really interesting and constructive discussion that highlighted many potential areas where we can build on our already solid base and increase our cooperation.

I particularly want to acknowledge and recognise the personal testimony and experience that has been given in both panels. It really shows why this work is important and underlines the benefits of working together when it makes sense to do so.

In addition to my own participation, today’s Dialogue is being listened to and noted by my Department and the Shared Island unit in the Taoiseach’s Department. A report of the discussions, points, perspective, experience and suggestions raised will be prepared and published in the weeks ahead.

This Dialogue and report will inform our thinking in Government on how best we can continue to pursue our Shared Island commitment to deepen and strengthen North/South links and policy development for mutual benefit in the years ahead, working with our counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive and in Sport NI.

Sport is an important source of civic pride, but is also so much more. It improves our health, helps us meet new and diverse people and it is the foundation for communities right across this island.

The Irish Government will continue to work with the Executive, with the UK Government and with all of you in the Sport sector to see that we work with the ambition, resourcing and political commitment we need to find new opportunities for cooperation and engagement.

I look forward as Minister to continuing to engage with you all, as leaders and representatives in the Sport sector, North and South.

Thank you.