'You can't buy an Olympic medal, but you'll pay for it'

The head of the Irish Institute of Sport told us about the business of producing top athletes.

By Paul O'Donoghue Reporter, Fora April 16th 2016 3 min read

IRELAND NEEDS TO allocate more money to top level athletes if we want to compete internationally, according to the man in charge of improving the performance of top Irish athletes.

Speaking to Fora at the Project Management Institute Ireland national conference earlier this week, Gary Keegan said that funding for ‘high performance’, money set aside for elite athletes in bodies such as the IRFU or Cricket Ireland, should receive a bump.

Keegan is the director the Irish Institute of Sport, a government body established to support high level athletes and coaches. Investment in high performance has been largely stagnant in Ireland for the last number of years.

“Currently the investment total is something like €12.5 million in total so we are still investing small in context and we’re getting a decent return but the drive is to get to a much higher level,” he said.

Just under €10 million was allocated in 2015. Although this was a slight increase on 2014 and 2013, €10.5 million was allotted in 2012 to high-performance sport.

Gary Keegan

Funding

Keegan compared the level of funding in Ireland to that in New Zealand. Last year, High Performance Sport New Zealand dished out over NZ$33 million (€20 million) to the country’s top athletes. Rowing, cycling and yachting were the highest recipients, taking in over NZ$14 million between them.

In Ireland €9.76 million was pledged in 2015 for high performance funding. The three bodies who received the most funding, the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, Athletics Ireland and Paralympics Sport, received a combined total of €2.5 million.

An additional €1.5 million was invested in services provided directly by the Institute of Sport to those sports and athletes.

New Zealand

Keegan said: “New Zealand’s high performance system, given that their population size is very similar, that they have an indigenous sport in rugby and we have GAA, both of which pull in a lot of athletes, they are an interesting nation to compare us with. They are investing at about two to one compared to us.”

“The Institute was established in 2006 and only really found its feet from 2009 onwards, so even that as a component of a high performance system is very new. We are a bit behind where other nations were, but we’re getting there.”

He added: “Investment is something that is really important. While you can’t buy an Olympic medal, you’ll certainly pay for it. I think the investment needs to grow but we needs to take everything else into context around us, we don’t operate in isolation of other challenges that the country has.

“My belief is that in Ireland we could have three to four sports winning medals at Olympic games and Paralympic games on a consistent basis. That’s what our aim should be.”

Irish elite athletes did receive a boost recently with the opening of a new €4 million high performance training facility earlier this year. The centre is housed by the Institute of Sport in the on the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin.