IPPN

Published: 08 December 2008

Source : Irish Times

Tue, Dec 09, 2008

The falling levels of sport participation need to be reversed, writes Giles Warrington

LAST WEEK we looked at the principle of Long Term Player Athlete Development (LTPAD) as a model for the effective nurturing of our young talented athletes.

One of the main criticisms of the model is that it is often perceived as being very elitist and catering for only the gifted few.

Based on this premise, the need for a wider, more inclusive strategy for mass participation in sport and exercise in Ireland is required. Such initiatives should focus on promoting and encouraging individuals to engage in a long-term involvement in physical activity which caters for recreational and lifelong participation in sport.

Irish data suggests that there are falling rates of physical activity across the population leading to higher rates of obesity and other health-related problems. In particular, the level of drop off in participation rates is most striking among females from about 14-15 years onwards.

School physical education programmes, community-based sports activities, and family-centred activities and sport recreational programmes all have the potential to promote greater participation, particularly among adolescents.

Critical to any physical activity and sports participation strategy, therefore, is the creation of a positive environment that enables participants to achieve their optimum potential.

By developing fundamental movement skills as well as creating a positive attitude to sport and physical activity during the informative years, people are more likely to maintain a lifelong involvement in it.

With this in mind the Irish Sports Council in conjunction with Coaching Ireland has developed a broader model of Lifelong Involvement in Sport and Physical Activity (LISPA) which encompasses all levels of participation and can be adapted to individual needs.

The addition of a Long-Term Recreation (LTR) pathway is designed to encourage people, if they choose to, to stay involved in physical activity and recreational sport throughout their lifespan.

According to the LISPA model, a number of opportunities have been identified as being critical to a lifelong involvement in physical activity and sport. These include:

• Active living:A way of life that values physical activity as an essential part of living, characterised by the integration of physical activity into daily routines, eg walking whenever you can, cycling to work and gardening, etc.

• Active recreation: The use of leisure time for activities that require moderate energy expenditure and produce health and/or social benefits usually performed in a non-competitive setting, eg going to the gym, walking, jogging, swimming, social soccer/tag rugby, etc.

• Organised sport: Participation in sports that have a significant element of planned and purposeful physical activity with competitive goals. Organised sports participation involves competing at all levels including local, club, county, provincial and national levels, eg local leagues in basketball, county championships in hurling, regional competitions in swimming.

• High performance: Long-term commitment to training and competing at the highest standard in the pursuit of excellence at national and international levels.

The long-term recreational pathway therefore focuses on accommodating those individuals who choose to stay involved in sport at a recreational level and results in participants pursuing active living, active recreation and elements of organised sport opportunities.

Of particular note is that the recreational and performance pathways are not mutually exclusive and individuals may choose to move between pathways depending on personal circumstances or stage of the life-cycle they are in.

A copy of the LISPA document can be downloaded from the Coaching Ireland website, www.coachingireland.com.

• Dr Giles Warrington is a sport and exercise physiologist and lecturer in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU

© 2008 The Irish Times

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Published: 07 December 2008

Source : Sunday Independent (Letters)

Sir -- Regarding the statement by the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe that teachers and parents "need to get real" regarding the education cutbacks, it appears that the minister is totally unaware that safety legislation has changed greatly in recent years and that the duty of care required of schools is now much greater.

Boards of management could find themselves in breach of their duty of care by failing to engage sufficient staff to safely conduct a school or failing to send sufficient teachers on a school trip/excursion, educational visit, school game.

They must devise a safe system of substitution/ supervision and maintain safe plant -- negligent supervision of students would fall into this category as would an inadequate substitution system.

It is simply not realistic for the minister to continue to hanker after times past, to look for solidarity and for co-operation in the national interest when legislation (introduced by his own Government) prevents this.

Shay Bannon,
Principal, CBS High School, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

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Published: 07 December 2008

Source : Sunday Independent

Streets fill with anger at education cutbacks

By DANIEL McCONNELL CHIEF REPORTER
Sunday December 07 2008

They came by train, by car, and even some by plane, from all parts of Ireland to play their part in what was the largest organised protest since the anti-war marches in 2003.

Well over 40,000 people gathered at the top of O'Connell St yesterday for the march across the Liffey to Merrion Square.

Amassed behind a massive banner saying 'Schools United', union leaders, opposition politicians, teachers, school managers, parents and students came together to voice their opposition to the harsh Budget cuts announced in October.

Despite the heavy garda presence, they were not needed in stark contrast to the Love Ulster march back in 2006 which went so horribly wrong. This gang were not the sort to cause trouble.

As the muinteoiri na hEireann huddled together on a bright, but bitterly cold, December day, sightings of hip flasks were common, an aid to warmth as they made their way across the dirty river below.

Shouts of "Cut backs, fight back" could be heard as the thousands piled onto Merrion Square, before they stopped at the temporary stage and a huge round of applause erupted.

Before any of the speakers began, the crowds were entertained by The Fureys, who declared they were happy to lend their support to such a good cause. After a fine rendition of Leaving Nancy, during which the crowd danced, swayed and sang, the serious business of the day began.

Mike Jennings, of the Irish Federation of Universities Teachers, chaired the rally and opened his remarks by saying: "As we gather, they are still only leaving O'Connell St now" which drew a huge cheer.

He declared it a noble gathering, before saying that rather than penalising the children, why did the Government not cut the number of junior ministers, and why not cull the number of Dail committee chairmen.

Next up, Declan Kelleher, of the INTO, made it clear that as the people who have come from all over the country return to their parishes, their protest will continue and Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe were told that they will "pay for their mistakes" at the forthcoming local and European elections over their Budget cuts in education.

Like all great dramas, there is the battle between good and evil. There was no doubt that Messrs Cowen and O'Keeffe were the baddies, and there was no shortage of talking heads who were convinced they were on the side of good.

In total over 15 people took to the microphone, including David Begg, and Roisin Shorthall, of Labour.

As is the case with every march to take place, Richard Boyd Barrett and the 'people for profit' bunch were there, but the son of Sinead Cusack was told in no uncertain terms he wasn't being allowed to speak.

The lead up to this march has been dogged by a bitter war of words between Mr O'Keeffe and the unions.

Mr O'Keeffe has been on the warpath. He has deplored the "using of the Irish children" as pawns in this battle and said that teachers are only seeking to look after their "cozy positions".

He has condemned them for the abuse of the generous uncertified sick leave, saying there is a significant absenteeism problems on Mondays and Fridays.

He has had to roll back on that "smear and libel" on the nation's teachers, as Declan Kelleher called it, but remains adamant that no more roll-backs will take place.

The teachers have also had to defend the practice of using school facilities to organise their protest agenda, which has also been criticised by Mr O'Keeffe and his supporters.

Don Ryan, TUI president, defended this practice, saying teachers had a duty to inform parents as to what was being inflicted upon them and said they were perfectly entitled to so by using the school facilities.

However, as parents are facing additional charges of between €200 and €500 per child a year in terms of voluntary contributions, some schools have taken to naming and shaming those children whose parents haven't paid up. Mr Ryan said he deplored such a practice.

Brian Hayes, Fine Gael spokesman on education, called on Mr O'Keeffe to end his dirty war with the unions and said while he welcomed the temporary U-turn on substitute teachers last week, the time has come to meet the unions and find a resolution.

Responding to the comments made at the march, Mr O'Keeffe said: "We have to be realistic about what the country can afford. There is financial turmoil around the world. We are having to make courageous political decisions to deal with the current economic situation.

"The cost-saving measures the Government outlined in the Budget are necessary to safeguard the future of our country and of our children."

- DANIEL McCONNELL CHIEF REPORTER

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Published: 07 December 2008

Source : Sunday Independent

Cutbacks? Start with the gravy train
By Gene Kerrighan
Sunday December 07 2008

Here are three things we need to worry about: (1) what the rest of the world is doing about the global economic meltdown, (2) what our government is doing about our own collapse, and (3) whether we'll be able to protect John Bruton's pension.

You young folk may wonder, who the hell is John Bruton? I remember him well. John was Taoiseach for a little while between the end of the Haughey era and the rise of Sir Bertie of the Sterling Lodgment. John came and went without much bother.

We could have chosen any number of esteemed elders as an example, but John Bruton's pension will do as a symbol. It represents the eternal question that's part of every economic meltdown -- who gets the gravy and who gets poked in the eye with a sharp stick?

As for the global economic crisis, everyone knows there are two problems -- frozen credit and a slump in the real economy. So, billions are pumped into the banks yet credit remains frozen. And interest rates are brought down, but unemployment grows at a startling rate. The usual tricks don't work.

There's an argument -- to which Barack Obama seems open -- that a massive public works stimulus is needed, the good old fashioned Keynesian solution. But it's been too long in coming, and anything suggested so far seems derisory (the French think €26bn will do it).

Prospects? Given that the dimmest layperson's guess is as good as the average economist's -- perhaps two or three years of real pain, followed by several years of slow recovery. And that's the upside. It's also possible there will be at least a dozen years of economic Armageddon before there's any international relief -- if ever.

Given that we can't count on the international cavalry riding to our rescue, what's our own government doing about our economic collapse? Eh, well, it's waiting for the international cavalry to ride to our rescue.

It seems we're a "small open economy" and we can't do anything. Forget all that tiger nonsense about entrepreneurial spirit -- we have to do what the banks want, guarantee their loans so they don't collapse. And wait for the EU or the Yanks or the Chinese to pull off a miracle.

The only ones offering a note of dissent are the trade unions -- on Friday, Siptu issued a stimulus plan. Nothing terribly radical, just bog standard emergency capitalism. And if the past is any guide, it will be ignored.

With nothing positive to offer, our politicians and their pet economists enjoy cutting public services, numbers and pay. It won't help the problem -- in fact, it will make it worse -- but it makes them feel good and they get good media. For some reason, it's popular to attack guards, nurses, soldiers, lab technicians and train drivers (Michael O'Leary on Friday's 'Late Late Show' made a gratuitous swipe at doctors and nurses and got a big laugh and a round of applause).

Suppose the international cavalry doesn't come? Instead of stimulating the economy, using the public sector as a tool for infrastructural investment, this government will have done the opposite.

Which is where John Bruton's pension comes in.

Things are so bad that last week we brought in legislation to whip away the medical card from thousands of pensioners. Not rich pensioners, just those not on the breadline. We've taken a cancer vaccine away from young girls. We've enlarged class sizes, we've cut social programmes that kept kids in school. Hospital beds will be cut, fewer vermin-ridden prefab classrooms will be replaced. In a thousand sneaky little ways, we're making life more difficult for those who have little to cut back.

All this, of course, is "absolutely necessary". These "tough decisions" have to be made to save the economy.

So, I'm reading some government statistics, 'Finance Accounts 2006', trying in my dim layperson way to make sense of how we got into this mess. And I spot a familiar name. John Bruton. Pension. And the figure €89,777. That's some pension, for a man who's currently working as EU ambassador to the USA, a job that I bet pays a nice salary. And, I'll warrant, a job that meets most of your accommodation, transport and food needs. The man is years from retirement, and his pension is twice the average industrial wage, says I.

And all around him, names familiar and otherwise. You wouldn't believe the amounts of money they're getting, as pensions -- and many of them still in gainful employment. At least two of these chaps have criminal convictions. There are politicians you've never heard of. Others you wish you'd never heard of. There are a number of lawyers, among the highest paid in the land, entitled to State pensions of 40 or 50 grand a year.

Last May, two junior ministers got the bum's rush (nothing wrong with them, but Brian Cowen needed to give someone else a go in their Mercs).

They got golden handshakes of €106,000 between them, even though they still draw TD wages of around a 100 grand a year.

In the week that we withdrew the cancer vaccine from the young girls, RTE News told us there was a small fire in Bertie Ahern's State car. Think of it. Lord Sterling of Lodgment still has a state car. Two of them, actually, so that there'll always be one available in case he has to rush to a bank to lodge or withdraw a suitcase full of cash.

They spent €220,000 fitting out his new office, and gave him a golden handshake of €68,000. And until the day he dies, he'll have leather seats under his arse, with highly trained gardai ferrying him wherever he needs to go.

Remember Mary Robinson? Pension of €136,000. The current occupant of the Aras, Mary McAleese, is on €277,000 a year. Ah, says you, she's got a lot of expenses. Lots of people visit, and she has to put out little dishes full of Pringles. No, that kind of thing comes out of the extra €317,000 in "allowances".

Now, Mary McAleese is a nice person. She's thrilled to be president. I know she isn't in it for the money. I bet she'd do it for the €77,000, so we could save €200,000.

Obviously, this wouldn't save the economy. Not even if we took all the cars away from all the ministers and made them travel to work like the rest of us. Not even if we insisted that no one gets a pension until they retire, same as the rest of us. Not even if we stopped subsidising private secondary education to the tune of €90m a year. Not even if we stopped spending tens of millions subsidising the private health sector. Not even if we used tax measures to cap the salaries of the private sector incompetents who got us into this mess.

None of this would stimulate the economy. But that's not going to happen anyway, until the international cavalry get their act together. In the meantime, all the State is doing is attempting to trim costs, to keep things ticking over at the expense of those who can least afford sacrifice. The fact that the State squanders so much money on gratuitous luxuries for "top people", while simultaneously calling for patriotic sacrifice, tells us what this is about.

It's about maintaining the quality of the wine at the Dublin 4 dinner party, at the cost of the future of the kids who fail in overcrowded classes. It's a highly class conscious effort to ensure the recession has minimal effect on those who matter.

- Gene Kerrighan

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