Speech
Informal VC of Ministers of Sport on 1 December 2020
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
Good afternoon colleagues.
Thank you to the German Presidency for organising this Council and I would like to convey congratulations from Ireland for their EU Presidency.
Turning to the two questions for today’s meeting:
On question 1, in Ireland there was a 6 month period between March and August without any competition for Olympic and Paralympic sports. The early clarification of the Tokyo Games postponement was welcome and enabled athletes and sporting organisations to adjust their plans.
Cooperation between National Governing Bodies, their international federations and Governments would appear to be working well. There has been a good engagement on the revised competition calendars.
Major sporting events require Government support and input to both win bids and to deliver and host the events successfully. The re-confirmation of Government guarantees in highly time-pressured and uncertain circumstances has been challenging. Even though good news is emerging on the vaccine front, considerable uncertainty will prevail into and beyond 2021. Continuing strong collaboration and mutual understanding will be essential to meet this ongoing challenge.
Preventing the spread of Covid-19 within travelling teams is considered the primary operational challenge for sport. Alternative logistic arrangements, involving private transportation, single occupancy in hotels, and shorter stays at competition is the new order of the day.
International travel is also, and will continue to be, a key challenge. The smooth and orderly continuation of international travel is vital for professional teams and those seeking Olympic/Paralympic qualification. Another challenge that we would like to highlight is insurance where some sports in Ireland have encountered difficulties in securing adequate insurance cover for travelling parties contracting Covid-19 whilst abroad. I would be interested to hear if this issue is arising elsewhere.
Question 2
In relation to question 2, Ireland would support increased EU exchanges. In that context, we would like to suggest that there should be a focus on three areas:
Firstly, achieving as much standardisation as possible in testing regimes. The maximum possible standardisation and uniformity of such regimes will greatly assist successful event planning.
Secondly, we see a need to inform and help our fans to attend these events safely. The return of sport, behind closed doors for the most part, has been a great boost but the presence of fans is clearly missed. Events are simply not the same without fans and the EU might usefully consider leading an information campaign to assist and guide positive fan behaviour. That can also help to build the confidence of fans in our event safety planning.
Thirdly, the inspirational effect of major events cannot be lost or diminished. There will be an understandable focus on event safety and security but we still need to sell the huge potential that these events have in driving wider participation in sport, as well as contributing to ongoing economic and tourism growth. The values of sport and their capacity to foster closer international relationships and national and community pride can rightly be emphasised and publicised.
In conclusion, my thanks again to my colleague from Germany and best wishes to Portugal for their Presidency next month.
Thank you.