IRISH SPORT MATTERS TO
OUR COMMUNITIES

• 2,796 people volunteered at the Special Olympic Ireland Games in June 2010 generating a social capital value of €4.7 based on the hours contributed to the preparation and operation of the event
• 270,000 people participate in some form of sport-related voluntary activity making sport the most important form of voluntary activity in Ireland
• There are over 12,000 sports clubs in Ireland with over 1.7 million members
• 560,000 adults attend a sport event weekly
• An increasing number of unemployed people took part, volunteered and attended sports activities between 2007 & 2009
• 59% of sports participants socialise regularly with fellow participants as do 53% of volunteers
• 70% of participants in sport say meeting people is their primary reason for playing
• Garda call outs in Ballymum were reduced by 49% during Late Night Leagues run by the FAI whilst in Tallaght call outs were down by 52% for the duration of the League
• The FAI runs after-school programmes where ethnic minority children learn English through Football
• The GAA’s programme to combat rural isolation amongst men is being piloted in 90 clubs nationwide with the aim to have the programme in the GAA’s 2,000 plus clubs by 2014