Cork Sports Partnership

Irish Sports Monitor 2008

The Irish Sports Monitor (ISM) has been established as an ongoing survey of participation in sport in Ireland. This is the second annual report of the ISM, based on the data collected in 2008.
The report is the latest in a series of collaborations between the Council and the ESRI on sport and physical activity. The Monitor contains a wealth of information which will be of great interest to policy makers and everyone involved in the promotion and development of sport in Ireland.

Key findings include:

• Active Participation in sport fell to 30.8% in 2008, from 32.9% in 2007
• Evidence strongly suggests that the fall was caused by the recession
• Headline rates of volunteering (7.8%) and club membership (32.4%) held up in 2008
• Attendance at sporting events fell significantly (16.7% to 15%)
• Swimming overtook personal exercise activities as the number one sporting activity

The 2008 Irish Sports Monitor report can be downloaded here.

Irish Sports Monitor 2007

The report is the first in a series of annual reports that will meaasure and track participation in Irish sport. Based on a nationally representative sample of nearly 10,000 adults aged 16 and over the report offers the most detailed picture yet of sporting life in Ireland. The 2008 report will be released in summer 2009.

Key findings include:

• 24% of the adult population is highly active; 18% is sedentary
• Participation rates in Ireland are braodly in line with developed countries but l-ag behind best performers
• Personal exercise activities (gym, fitness classes, exercise machines) have become the most popular form of physcial activity
• There is a high level of social particiaption in sport, involving volunteering, attendance and club membership numbers at sports events.

The 2007 Irish Sports Monitor report can be downloaded here.