Health and social benefits of sport beyond doubt
Issued : Thursday 2 September, 2010
Statement by Eamon Gilmore TD
Leader of the Labour Party, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade
There is a great love and enthusiasm for sport in this country, both as participants and as spectators. We see it this week, for instance, in the excitement and anticipation building up in advance of the All Ireland Hurling Final - not just in Kilkenny and Tipp, but all over the country.
Successes in sport can improve morale at national, county and club level. The achievements of the international rugby and soccer teams in recent decades as well as the successes, for instance of our boxes, at the Olympics have been a national tonic.
An organisation like the GAA not only provides crucial sporting facilities but also an important social network throughout the country.
We have a relatively high level of participation in sports and hundreds of thousands of people contribute time and effort in a voluntary capacity to keep local sports clubs and teams operating.
But we can do better in both areas. While we have had successes at Olympic level, the number of medals won by Irish participants is well below the numbers won by countries with similar population levels.
And while up to 1.3 million (30.8%) of the population regularly participate in some form of sport or recreation, this means that around 3 million or 70% are not.
The health and social benefits of participation in sports and active recreation are beyond doubt. The document quotes research by the ESRI showing that regular participation in sport is equivalent, in health terms, to being 14 years younger. Money invested in these areas will ultimately result in potential financial savings in the health area.
I want to pay particular tribute to the quarter of a million people who on a voluntary basis contribute their time, energy and enthusiasm to keeping local sports clubs and activities going.
Many people who have found themselves out of work and with little prospect of a job have found a productive use for their time and energies in this area. Government proposals announced last weekend to allow up to 10,000 people currently claiming unemployment benefits to participate in social employment in the community could play a useful role in promoting sport and recreation. Clearly there are organisational difficulties that will have to be overcome if the scheme is to be a success, but I have no doubt that there are many people on the dole who would be happy to avail of the scheme and rather than sitting at home doing nothing. Sport and recreation seem tailor-made for this scheme.
I want to congratulate Deputy Mary Upton on the production of these proposals to overhaul sport in Ireland.
This is the third major policy document that Mary has produced within her area of responsibility since the beginning of this year.
Of course in the current situation the main focus of government, political and public attention must remain on the horrendous economic problems facing this country, illustrated so starkly this week by the Anglo losses in the first half of this year and the live register figures published yesterday.
However, it is important that we do not ignore other areas of life that are important to society, particularly where reforms and improvements can be made without the expenditure of significant amounts of additional money. This document shows how this can be done in regard to sport and recreation. As Mary herself says, this is about spending money on sport smarter and not about simply throwing money at sport.
NB - 'A Level Playing Field', Labour's plans to radically overhaul sport in Ireland can be downloaded from our policy section on our website
