ISC announcement of 2002 Grants to
National Governing Bodies
John Treacy, Chief Executive
Conrad Hotel 24/01/02

Ladies and Gentleman. Good afternoon. I know it'll come as no surprise to you but in preparing for today's announcements, we've been studying Grant Application forms over the last couple of months. I know that you all appreciate that we take time to read / digest and analyse each one before we make recommendations to the Council on funding levels for the year ahead. Indeed, Shane and his colleagues in the NGB Unit have been checking back with some of you if something is unclear / not 'adding up' / or in any way of importance to the case being presented by the organisation!

I can assure that no stone is left unturned in the search for investment opportunities in accordance with the priorities identified by the Minister and the Council.

Having said all of that - and this may sound funny - but the process is inspiring! When you get to assess, as we do, all of the records in the space of a short time, you get to see the volume of work that is undertaken by NGBs and taken all together the range of activities, the rate of progress on issues like anti-doping is truly inspiring.

Your work on behalf of your sports and your athletes should not be underestimated. You have my assurance as Chief Executive that I won't for a moment forget your commitment to your sport.

In announcing details of the allocation of €7.16 million, covering 56 organisations working in partnership with ISC, it is important to acknowledge the work of our Minister and his Department, particularly their contribution to our case for funding in the overall Budget.

Just for a second let's consider the fact that in times gone by sport would have been among the first things to be affected at a time when belts were being tightened. In the lead up to Budget 2002, many of us had anxious times wondering if this would be sport's fate once again.However, the opposite happened and not only were our budgets not cut, but we also secured funding for the rollout of the High Performance strategy, which in my view is testament to sport's new-found status in the overall scheme of things. That status has been achieved on the back of the support from the Minister and his Department, the work of Council members on your behalf and most importantly the case we were able to present based on our knowledge of the work you do and the plans you now have in place for the sustainable development of sport into the future.

As you all know by now, we are always willing to listen and over the coming weeks we will meet most of you bilaterally to discuss your achievements in 2001 and to ensure we are all satisfied with the plans and resources for the year ahead. A total of €11.302 million will be invested in the work of the 67 National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) in 2002. Obviously, today's announcement does not cover all NGBs. ISC's support for the work of GAA, IRFU and FAI on sport for young people programme will be the subject of planning and discussions between the relevant organisations and I look forward to agreeing those shortly and making those announcements in the coming weeks.

In that regard I am also delighted to announce that €1,102,452 is to be invested in the work of the National Coaching & Training Centre. As part of our commitments under the Sydney Review Report, the Terms of Reference for the Centre have been revised and a new Board of management is in place, chaired by Professor Pat Fottrell, a Council member and recently retired President of NUI Galway. Arising from the revised terms, an Operational Plan for 2002 has been the subject of a detailed planning process between ISC and NCTC and I am sure that you will see the outcome of that work in the coming weeks.

I know that I can speak for Pat and his staff when I tell you that we are all committed to ensuring that NGBs and their athletes get the best possible services available. I know that the challenging programme, which the NCTC has laid out in agreement with the Council, will see more and more highly qualified coaches, more athletes benefiting from the expertise available at the Centre and more and more squads taking advantage of the facilities now on offer @ UL.

To those NGBs, which have not yet fully engaged in the strategic planning process - please take this opportunity to look at those sports, which have. NGBs that have developed and / or agreed strategies have been in a position to make a strong case for funding, both to ISC and to outside commercial partners based on overall goals for the future development of their sport in Ireland. Securing the support of the sport's membership through the planning process is fundamental. Proposals, which are generated as a result of members' endorsement are more likely to succeed in bringing about the necessary changes and thus are considered to be much stronger cases for investment.

Consulting with players, athletes, coaches, parents and officials in the planning process is critical to the organisation's future development. Securing and acting on the views of those involved in all aspects of the sport, allows NGBs to proceed with ambitious plans, knowing that the 'root and branch' of the organisation is willing to support the necessary changes. The confidence, which this brings, is reflected in many of the decisions taken by Council.

While the bulk of the work of the NGBs involves developing abilities and providing opportunities for players and athletes to compete in national competitions in their chosen sport, most National Governing Bodies of Sport also invest in the preparation of elite athletes and teams for international competition.

With the support of the Irish Sports Council and often in conjunction with NCTC, the NGBs educate and deploy coaches, organise training camps and prepare teams to compete in major international events such as the Olympic Games, World championships, European Championships and Home Internationals. Over the last three years, ISC has made €6,402,798 available to today's recipients in pursuit of those objectives. It is the responsibility of the NGBs to manage the training and development of those talented performers. The work of the other agencies, like ISC, NCTC, OCI and Paralympic Council is seen in the context of supporting and underpinning the work of the NGB on behalf of their athletes. That is why ISC describes the delivery of world-class success as a joint project in co-operation with all these agencies.

Over the course of last year, ISC ran 22 education / training events specifically for NGBs (as part of the Council's overall work programme in this area). From workshops on disciplinary panels on the anti-doping programme, to Children's Officers training days and related children in sport work, consultation days on High Performance plans and Carding reviews, and of course the National Sports Development Conference, hosted in association with SCNI. NGBs were heavily represented at all these events.

It is the intention of the ISC to continue to provide access to quality training programmes. Our plans in terms of NGB support include training in Children's Sport, continuing rollout of anti-doping education programme, training and support in financial management and corporate governance. I look forward to seeing you and your colleagues at those events.

It is a very exciting year. I know that many of you will have your own highlights to look forward to - I saw many of those prioritised in your submissions. From my perspective, there is a huge range of things to look forward to in 2002:

the work we are doing together in Children's Sport, with the next training day for National Children's Officers planned for Saturday week

Also on February 2nd we are hosting the Drugs in Sport seminar @ RCSI as part of the ISC Anti-doping education programme. This seminar is designed especially for medical practitioners, doctors, chemists etc to whom athletes and players may turn to for advice

etc.The following weekend we are running our 3rd training day for the growing network of Local Sports Partnerships. These seminars are used to promote all our work, and the 8 coordinators appointed so far are fully aware of all ISC-related activities, including the work we do with you as NGBs.

In tandem with the LSP network we will be rolling out a number of programmes at local level in conjunction with the Dept. Health and Dept. Education, which will underpin your work in competitive sport.

Of course our high performance strategy, which you would have got copies of last month - the action on this plan will commence shortly.

We will shortly be starting out on our own planning and review phase - so I'm looking forward to assessing the progress we've made in our first three years and to mapping in consultation with you, what our long-term priorities for Irish sport should be.

In keeping with Council commitments on ensuring investment in sport builds on the principle of bets practice, ISC will randomly select NGBs to become involved in an ISC-driven NGB-specific financial audits. These will assist organisations in identifying strengths and weaknesses in these areas and their financial management systems and will help to put in place best practice principles in monitoring, accountability and management. I know, as sportspeople we all aspire to be the best that we can be - I think we should also rise to the challenge of seeing if we can create even more effective organisations, build even better membership services, govern our dealings with affiliates and other agencies according to the principles of good management and practice.

I want to conclude by thanking you again for your support and co-operation in our work together for Irish sport. We could not have achieved what we have done so far in building a stronger case for sport, without the help and support of you and your colleagues in the National Governing Bodies. We will continue to work with you in pursuit of our agreed objectives - more people competing in more sport more often at the levels of their choice!

Taken into consideration the fact that many NGBs are represented by volunteers, the fact that so much has been achieved is very satisfying and I congratulate you all. However, no one is resting on laurels.

It is the intention of the ISC to continue to work hard to develop our skills and services in support of your work. In that regard, I want to thank my own staff for their continuing commitment to the cause of supporting NGBs. You are assured of my commitment and that of my staff to make the work you do on behalf of your members and your athletes even more effective in 2002.

With all of our plans and programmes in mind, (and I haven't even mentioned any sport-specific highlights) I can't help but think of what an exciting year lies ahead for all of us. I really can't wait to get stuck into the work with you again. However, for now, I'd like to invite you to join us for some lunch - just to get the year off to the right start and finish by thanking you once again for your support today and I look forward to working all of you to make all our plans come to life for the benefit of all the players, athletes, officials and coaches for whom we all work!

Thank you.