Sport Ireland Bill to streamline sports development and policy – Fitzpatrick

Fine Gael TD for Louth, Member of the Oireachtas Health Committee and former Louth Senior manager, Peter Fitzpatrick, has welcomed the establishment of Sport Ireland, a new body which will combine the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus. Deputy Fitzpatrick was speaking in the Dáil today on the Sports Ireland Bill 2014.

“ Sport Ireland will replace the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority. The establishment of Sport Ireland will result in a more streamlined organisation for the development of sport and the implementation of sports policy by bringing responsibility for sports matters together under one agency.

“It makes sense that the development of Irish sport would be overseen by one central organisation and I am also pleased that Sport Ireland Bill will take into account the substantial developments in the area of doping. Ireland has an extensive national Anti-Doping Programme and this programme, alongside the Irish Anti-Doping Rules, will underpin Sport Ireland.

“As an avid sports fan and fitness enthusiast, I believe wholeheartedly that positioning sport at the centre of Irish life is key to making Ireland a healthier place. I believe that we need to focus on fitness levels rather than numbers on the weighing scale as an indication of healthy living, and organisations such as Sport Ireland are important in promoting this ideal.

“Research published recently by the Irish Society for Rheumatology (ISR) has shown that inter-county GAA players with a higher lean muscle mass are less likely to sustain injury. We are not all playing sport at the high level of the GAA or the organisations under Sport Ireland, but the message remains the same – if you exercise and increase your muscle mass you are less likely to suffer from aches and pains.

“Research carried out on professional athletes, or in the case of the GAA athletes who are professional in everything but name, often seems out of touch with the normal person on the street. However the results of this research do translate indicating that if your body is strong and healthy, you are less likely to get injured.

“I think it’s also important to point out that there is more to being healthy than staying slim. Obviously controlling your weight is a massively important part of staying healthy but there are a lot of people out there who are focused only on the scales and who are not looking after their health in other ways.

“The Sport Ireland Bill 2014 is extremely important in streamlining the development of policy and it also provides an excellent opportunity to emphasise again the importance of sport in Irish life in promoting a healthy lifestyle.”