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WHILE IRELAND’S WORLD Cup dream ended earlier than hoped, the adventure was embraced by the nation in ways that have never been seen before for women’s team sports.
A massive opportunity now exists to ensure that women’s sport remains front and centre.
A survey by Ipsos over the course of the initial week of the tournament found that 64% in Ireland are interested in the tournament, with 22% overall saying that they are very interested.
Interest levels stretch far beyond the traditional football support base and captured the imagination of many different groups, as well as both football supporters and non-football supporters alike.
Fieldwork for this survey took place between 17 and 25 July, aligning with Ireland’s initial pool games. Surveying was conducted through Ipsos’s Omnipoll survey – a twice monthly telephone survey among 1,000 people representative of the Irish population aged 15 and older.
To put the findings in perspective, previous work Ipsos has done for Sport Ireland during the postponed 2020 Olympics found that 61% were interested in that event, with 21% very interested in it.
Research by my UK colleagues during the Women’s Euro 2022 football tournament – which England both hosted and won – identified that a similar proportion in Britain were interested in that tournament.
Engagement levels are certainly higher among football fans, however half of those who say they are not a football fan express an interest in the tournament.
Digging further into the data uncovers some fascinating nuggets. Interest levels in football generally are lowest among young women and mothers. Despite this, the majority of women aged under 35 are interested in the tournament as are 3 out of every 5 mothers.
That such a high number in Ireland are interested in this tournament is particularly impressive given that attendance at Ireland matches have been broadly the same as a typical League of Ireland game, and Ireland started as rank outsiders in a tournament that never previously captured the imagination of football supporters.
Also factor in that the games were not exactly primetime viewing, with many having to take time out of their working day to cheer on the girls in green.
Impressive then that the girls in green have extended their reach into so many homes around Ireland.
But what does this tell us about the future of women’s sport in Ireland?
One of the key considerations when planning large sporting events is the legacy that it leaves behind. This often focuses on the stadia and infrastructure that are opened to the benefit of local communities after the tournament has left town.
The Irish squad have been clear in their desire to leave a lasting legacy from their first ever involvement at the World Cup. The opportunity to do so is clear.
Women’s football has been exposed to a larger audience than ever before. Ipsos research shows that having seen a women’s tournament most football fans become more interested in the sport.
Encouragingly, despite being perceived by many football fans as less skilful and exciting than men’s matches, the women’s game is perceived as more accessible and safer to attend. The legions of young girls at recent Ireland games in Tallaght provide ample evidence of this.
The opportunity for the legacy stretches far wider than just football. Women and girls are not just much less likely than their male counterparts to play sport, but also less likely to be involved in coaching and club administration – roles that strengthen the foundations of women’s sport in Ireland.
If she can’t see it, she can’t be it. Clearly the women and girls of Ireland have certainly seen it. Now the focus needs to be on empowering them to be it.
That would be a real victory for Vera Pauw, Katie McCabe and the other girls in green when they return home from Australia.
Kieran O’Leary is a director at Ipsos Ireland
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Now that’s a sentence you wouldn’t see in Ireland.
@Gerard O’Brien: my first thought was ‘that would get you a tasty 3 months Suspended in Ireland’
@Gerard O’Brien: very true, at first I thought there’s 1 judge in Ireland with a bit of common sense but alas it turned out not so
@Gerard O’Brien: I’d give him an extra year for the sheer stupidity of it all.
10yrs is a bit harsh, no?
@Kavo: Nope!
@Kavo: you must be an Irish judge
@Kavo: what would you recommend for pointing guns at kids..bear in mind the kids don’t know the guns are not real…
@Kavo: sure nobody knew it was a fake, could have been real and he could have hosed them all.
@Kavo:
Totally agree, if they were real guns it could be justified but they were only imitation gun which maybe 3 to 4 years would be appropriate, thank goodness our judges in Ireland have a little more since when it comes to sentencing
@courageous: It is an offence under sec.16 of the Firearms Act 1968 in the UK. For very good reason the law doesn’t discriminate between an imitation gun and a real gun.
Possession of firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
It is an offence for a person to have in his possession any firearm or imitation firearm with intent—
(a)by means thereof to cause, or
(b)to enable another person by means thereof to cause,
any person to believe that unlawful violence will be used against him or another person
@Kavo: I agree. Seems a bit harsh. He was an idiot with a fake gun. Fake guns can’t kill.
@Sean: a fellow in Wexford before help up the post office with a banana in his pocket claiming it was a handgun and got a few years in the Joy for it.
@Bat Daly: and the kids and parents knew it was fake gun yeah ? Threatening and terrorising kids is something that should not be taken lightly .. good enough for him.
@Sean:
It may be law but it still don’t mean it’s an appropriate sentence
@Kavo: Very…10 years is ridiculous.
@Bat Daly: Until one of the kids run in front of a car to get away from the fake gun.
Didn’t happen in this case obviously. But it could if you didn’t know you were running from a fake.
@courageous: clown
@Bat Daly: what about the psychological damage to the kids who thought that they might be about to die? Ever had a gun pointed at you? Doesn’t make a difference to you in that moment if it’s real or fake. After the fact it’s fine yes, but not in the moment. If you cannot comprehend that then you are not intelligent.
@Kavo: i can see why you’d think it might be a bit harsh living in Ireland where yah wouldn’t get 10 years for murder but ask yourself this if your kids seen a gun pointed at them would you reckon 10 years is a harsh sentence ??
Scu mb@g deserves every minute in prison!!!
@Bat Daly: It depends on what type of fake gun it was, inert replica or easily available airsoft weapon. Reports of other crimes using fake guns actually meant co2 weapons. If it was an airsoft/co2 gun it can still do damage, especially to a child. Plastic BBs in the eyes at point blank range can go straight through the eyeball into the eye sockets and even into the brain or at best leave someone blind. If it was an inert replica it can still damage a kids mind for life. The sentence was right.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: you’re living in the US and proud of being too pussy to defend your family with a gun legally available to you but would put someone in prison for 10 years for having a foolish act with a fake one… go take another Midol
@Rosie O’Boyle: that’s not how the law works. It’s not about how longa a sentence the parents of the victim feel the sentence should be, in fact it’s very deliberately not that way. That’s the whole point of a legal system. I have no problem with ten years for this. As someone else said, it doesn’t matter that it’s fake when everyone but the guy with it Hinksey it’s real, everyone will react as if it’s real, for example if he pulled it on a cop he’d be dead and the cop would be right.
@Kavo: 3 months suspended is even harsher.
Defrauding the elderly woman for which he got 6 months was a worse crime….
@pc_comments: inciting terror is kind of a big deal these days.
He could have shot the kids and judge Martin Nolan would still have given him a suspended sentence over here!
Good!!
@Amanda B: more for me and you…
Quality justice more filth off the streets. 6 months here with 6 months suspended=0 jail time. Offer that judge a position in our system.
Surely the theft of monies off the two elderly women is more serious?
It’s a very impressive reaction from the children who get out of Dodge fast. His buddy was also involved by the looks of it. If you watch the video closely in the top right hand corner you can see a second arm holding a silver gun emerge briefly and then disappear. Unless he has very long arms there is a second fake shooter on this grassy knoll!
@Sean: Was just gonna say he must be very long armed and long legged if he was driving the car by himself.
You see worse crimes get far less. Crazy sentence.
Mabee they needed scaring
You wouldnt get ten years in ireland if you shot someone
Different Jurisdiction . Why post on journal.IE none of our business
Wouldn’t get that for murder in this dump
@Gavin Farley: I lived in various parts of the South of England for 9-10 years and I remember one time as I was talking to a friend ( if you like ) & he was telling us about a friend of his that screamed at his girlfriend, ( peed BTW ) outside a pub or whatever, that he screamed, I’m gonna kill you.
He got 10 years for “threats to kill” even though his girlfriend retracted her statement & said he was peed & did’nt really mean it, but because he was in a public place he was funcked. And BTW, comparing our judicial system to the UK’s, Burglars : Operation Bumblebee, 3 strikes and its 10-12 years..! & I also know of 1 who took the blame for his little brother, coz he had no previous, & that poor (unt got 6 years first offence, I $hit you not..! & that was about 3 & 1/2 years ago..!
10 years for a imitation gun ? It’s a bit stiff, but maybe he is being done for ripping off the old woman.
@AindriuMacGiollaEoin: he got six months for ripping off the woman beggars belief doesn’t it
We need to build more prisons.Not just lock and throw away key one’s,but catch them young and educate ones…stop the rot before it grows…speculate to accumulate…
The real surprise is that the authorities didn’t say that Peter Brown is mentally ill.
When reading these story’s from the UK & comparing the sentences handed down to Irish prison sentences for similar crimes committed in this jurisdiction please note in the UK 50% is deducted in terms of remission & quite possibly more.
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