Madam, – What a wonderful fortnight for women’s sport in Ireland. It started with Derval O’Rourke’s silver at the European Athletics Championships, followed by the visit of the world’s best golfers to the Ladies’ Irish Open, Katie Taylor’s largely unnoticed third consecutive gold at the EU Boxing Championships, the driven efforts of our female GAA stars in their respective championships, and concluded with Gráinne Murphy’s fantastic medal-winning swim at the European Swimming Championships.
Aside from Derval’s run, coverage of these events on Irish television screens amounted to short edited clips on weekend news bulletins, either side of which were hours of men’s GAA, repeated in detail the same evening.
I implore Irish television to get right behind these new “Sonias” and give them the recognition and air time that they deserve.
As referred to in Sheila Wayman’s article (HEALTHplus, August 10th), female role-models are hugely important in attracting a greater number of Irish girls to physical activity and to ensuring their interest in sport is not confined to WAGs and ladies’ day. Enough of documentaries such as Fat Girls and Feeders and Wife Swap. Let’s hear about the lives of these ambitious women and give them some profile for their achievements.
Time for an equal playing field. – Yours, etc,