Time to breathe new life into sport

This is not usually a good time of the year to be in the column business. With most sensible sportsmen and women in winter hibernation, there is only rugby to offer up its limited charms to the expectant masses.

So this is the month when the columnist traditionally brings you delights like, "Ten ways to survive a GAA dinner dance" or, "Everything you ever wanted to know about ice hockey but were afraid to ask". Nobody really cares that much because their heads are full of wistful thoughts of firmer pitches, the sun on their backs and the next GAA controversy.

This week though is different. There is a clear theme and an obvious talking point because the last few days have seen developments that could have a radical and fundamental impact on sport here. The nomination of the ministers to the new Northern Ireland Executive and the devolving of powers from central government to that Executive will transform the way in which life here is governed.

Most of the concentration, and justifiably so, has been on the effects that will have on areas such as education, industry and health. But as the ripples move through the pond it is inevitable that the structures and administration of sport will also be affected.

"Normal government" is what we have been promised. It has been the absence of any semblance of normality here for three decades that has had such a stultifying effect on sport. During that time any prospect of meaningful development has been stymied. The net result is that we have the most retarded sporting infrastructure in these islands. In Dublin, plans for a new international soccer stadium are at an advanced stage.

In Cardiff, a magnificent new Millennium Stadium has been built and in Glasgow, Hampden Park has been reborn. Here there are only crumbling embarrassments of soccer and rugby grounds which are both safety hazards and eyesores. Impressive stadia and adequate facilities do not lead to improved performance but a direct correlation can undoubtedly be drawn between sporting well-being on and off the field of play.

The vacuum of the last 30 years has choked much of the life out of sport here. The major organisations have been free to pursue their own goals largely unfettered by any central control. The result has been the proliferation of self-interested groupings, all following separate agendas, with little interest in the wider sporting world around them. It is in that environment that sectarianism and bigotry have been tolerated and, in some circumstances, allowed to flourish.

The impact on the society playing host to these sectional sporting interests cannot be overestimated. Much is made of the contribution which segregated education has made to divisions in society here. But far less attention has been paid to the way in which those patterns are then reinforced and entrenched in the sports the children play outside of their school environments. Sport is important here because it holds up an unforgiving mirror to what is happening around it.

The changes engendered by the Good Friday Agreement now being brought to fruition clearly offer a way out of this self-perpetuating circle. That is why it is disappointing in the first instance to see that there is no specific ministerial sport brief within the new Executive. The nearest to it is the portfolio of Culture, Arts and Leisure, which will be held by Michael McGimpsey. But with debate likely to ferment pretty quickly over issues like the Irish language and arts funding, sport will find it difficult to make its voice heard. The hope is that the new minister will be willing to listen.

The problems have been mounting up and now there is the tantalising prospect of some sort of release. One of the areas in which debate is likely to be opened is that of the much vaunted national stadium. There is understandable scepticism about such a project. The experience of other countries shows it will swallow up millions of pounds which could be spent at an under-funded grassroots level.

But despite the misgivings, the idea of a new sporting arena has definite attractions. Some of these are undoubtedly symbolic. Neglect has dogged the development of sport here for a generation and a significant investment of finance and energy would send out warm and positive signals.

We have already been down this road before in the past few years and a site has already been provisionally earmarked alongside Belfast Lough. The problem is the issue of an anchor tenant or tenants. Would this be a venue for all the major sports here? Is there sufficient political will to face down the sectional interests of the GAA, soccer and rugby fraternities? To what extent will the project have to sell its soul to big business to be funded?

Another question is how far the new minister and his colleagues on the Executive will be prepared to engage with those major sporting bodies and coax them towards more co-operation with the others. A key factor here will be the issue of funding. With financial packages and a budget now available from central government how much control will Minister McGimpsey have over spending for sport? Will the distribution of Lottery money continue in its current form or be hived off to the Executive to spend as it sees fit?

As ever, more questions than answers. But what is clear is that the changes that will now ensue represent a fundamental overhaul of the way sport here is controlled and managed. With more power now vested in the local politicians it seems inevitable that the influence of a body like the Sports Council will wane and that it will take on a more consultative role. There are many interested parties to be won over to these proposed new ways.

Difficult decisions abound. Can investment in local soccer be justified given the current decrepit state of the game here? How will the whole issue of funding for the GAA be approached as long as Rule 21 remains? How will the new administration be able to justify continued finance for the countless leisure centres which sprang up as an attempt to keep the lid on social unrest during the worst years of the Troubles? With organised sport all but disappearing in many primary schools here, will a coherent policy be drawn up to confront that problem? And what about the development of an effective drug testing policy?

In the context of everything that has gone before in Northern Ireland all these may seem like mundane, even irrelevant concerns. But as Michael McGimpsey and the other new ministers will soon discover, this is the very essence of normal, bread and butter politics. The hope is that, as these new structures bed down, there will be a willingness to look at areas like sport and the impact which positive action can have on the wider culture.