On 24-25 March, a team of Council of Europe experts carried out a support and follow-up visit to Dublin to further the implementation of the European Sports Charter (ESC) within Irish policies and practices. The ESC is the Council of Europe standard which lays down the basic principles for national sports policies, allowing governments to support and provide opportunities for the practice of sport for all, under well-defined conditions.

The team met with the key stakeholders playing an active role in the implementation of a values-based sport in Ireland, including Minister O’Donovan, Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport Minister McConalogue, Minister of State with responsibility for Sport and Postal Policy as well as Ùna May, CEO of Sport Ireland and representatives from the Gaelic Athletics Association, the Olympic Federation and Paralympics Ireland, non-organised sport, athletes, Active Schools Flag initiative, the media and other stakeholders.

This visit was part of the mandate of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), where each year it supports the implementation of the ESC among its member states.

The team consisted of Alexandre Husting (Luxembourg) Chair of the EPAS Governing Board, Antonio Parrilla (Italy) member of the EPAS Governing Board, Charlotte Girard Fabre (IFSO) Chair of the EPAS Consultative Committee, Rowland Jack (I Trust Sport) and two members of the Secretariat.

The findings, recommendations and good practices identified during the visit will be gathered in a report to be transmitted to the Irish authorities for the implementation of its tailored recommendations. The adopted report will be made available to the public in 2025 on our website.