Twenty years ago, Sport Ireland launched its Women in Sport programme with a bold aim: to give women equal opportunities on the pitch. Two decades later, participation is up, sponsorships are stronger, and elite events are drawing record crowds. But stubborn challenges remain — from teenage dropout rates to a shortage of facilities and patchy media coverage.
In this episode of Sports Matters, Ian Kehoe sits down with two women at the forefront of change: Niamh Tallon, founder and CEO of Her Sport, and Emer O’Sullivan, corporate affairs director at Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Tallon talks about why she launched Her Sport and the mission that drives it: “Our vision is equal opportunity in sport, regardless of gender… Wwe have to be honest with ourselves when we look at the landscape and realise that the opportunity for girls and women is not the same.”
O’Sullivan explains Lidl’s long-running sponsorship of ladies' Gaelic football, from the controversial “Lady Ball” launch to grassroots investment in jerseys and equipment: “We want to do good, we want to be purpose-driven… but equally there are commercial reasons too. It has to work both ways.”
They discuss the barriers that still hold girls and women back — from lack of toilets at pitches to entrenched club cultures — and the power of visibility to change the game. “If girls have a positive experience, they have the facilities… They’ll tend to stay in sport,” O’Sullivan says.
Sports Matters is sponsored by the law firm Whitney Moore.
Charles Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald were the two big beasts of Irish politics in the 1980s. One a patrician born to rule, the other a northsider who assumed the wealth and airs of an aristocrat. But what is their legacy? On today’s podcast Eoin O’Malley talks to Dion Fanning about his new book on the two men and why his own father Des O’Malley might question some of the conclusions in the book.
Michael Kearney built and scaled a number of major businesses, including Snap Printing and Home Instead. However, he also had another career managing the Irish national rugby team. In this episode of Sports Matters, Kearney talks to Ian kehoe about what the boardroom can learn from the dressing room, and the importance of culture and honesty in any high-performance environment. He also talks about his own business, reflects on the coaches he worked with, and discusses his role mentoring international rugby players for their post-playing days. Sports Matters is sponsored by the law firm Whitney Moore.
The Guinness family have had a long and winding connection with Ireland, which persists to this day. In today’s podcast, Arthur Edward Guinness, the fourth Lord Iveagh, talks about why his father didn’t want his children to have anything to do with the family business.
In this episode of Sports Matters, world-renowned boxing coach Billy Walsh tells Ian Kehoe what it really takes to build a champion. Known for reshaping Ireland’s amateur boxing programme and now leading Team USA, Walsh speaks candidly about the demands of high performance, the cost of excellence, and why honesty is non-negotiable in the ring and in life. Speaking from home after a stop in Kazakhstan and ahead of another return to Colorado Springs, Walsh is candid about everything: the highs and lows of elite sport, the painful necessity of cutting talented athletes, and the brutal clarity the boxing ring delivers.
But underpinning it all is his belief in honesty, discipline and culture – and a relentless desire to learn. Sports Matters is sponsored by the law firm Whitney Moore.
How low can Irish football go? Is there a rock bottom? Will Clarke is the FAI’s League of Ireland Academy Development Manager. He knows what is needed to fix Irish football but how as a sport as massively popular as football in this country failed to make a case to government. Ahead of the Budget, Clarke explains to Dion Fanning what Irish football needs.
How will AI transform the medical profession and will patients benefit? Charlotte Blease talks to Dion Fanning about her new book where she argues that patients will benefit from the revolution.
Joseph Birchall has led many lives. He talks to Dion Fanning about his time at a kibbutz, his experience in Israel before October 7 and the chance he had in Hollywood.
In Pure Gold, Eamon Carr details the extraordinary encounters and the background stories that led to his weekly interviews in the Evening Herald. As a co-founder of the seminal Irish band Horslips, Carr has terms of reference not available to all. He tells Dion Fanning about the secret to making it as an interviewer.
Historian Cormac Moore’s new book looks at the failure of the Boundary Commission one hundred years on. He talks to Dion Fanning about the mistakes made by the Treaty negotiators, their failure to understand unionism and the errors of Eoin MacNeill.
Booker Prize-winning author Paul Lynch joins Alison Cowzer to reflect on the intense demands and deeper meaning of a writer’s life.
After 18 months promoting his acclaimed novel Prophet Song, Lynch still has plenty to say — about the discipline of writing, the risks of pursuing it as a vocation, and why, for him, there was never really a choice. “The thing about true vocation is you don’t have a choice,” he says. “To do anything else is to risk a loss of core identity.”
In a wide-ranging conversation, Lynch discusses the role of the artist, the importance of state support for writers, and why Prophet Song — a novel often described as dystopian — is in fact a mirror to the modern world. Arts Matters is supported by HLB Ireland.
