91制片厂鈥檚 female sporting stars were out in force for the Women in Sport Event which took place in the College recently as part of the inaugural FemFest celebration.
The event aimed to acknowledge and highlight the achievement and leadership of women in sport, especially those who have strong links with 91制片厂 either as past or present students and staff.
The event was MC鈥檇 by TG4 Rugba铆 Beo鈥檚 M谩ire Treasa N铆 Dhubhghaill, with speakers including the current Ireland Women鈥檚 Rugby captain Ciara Griffin. A graduate of 91制片厂鈥檚 Bachelor of Education and Master of Education programmes, the Munster and UL Bohemian back-rower has been one of the first names on the Ireland team sheet since making her international debut in 2016.
When asked about the current amateur status of Irish women鈥檚 rugby Ciara said: 鈥It鈥檚 great to be professional, but you have to have the ground work in place first. We need to develop grass roots rugby for girls here in Ireland and develop a player pool. I would prefer to see the funding going into underage rugby and developing that feeder system that they have in the UK, France and New Zealand. That they have under age systems where the girls are working at such a high level from a young age it just comes naturally to them and that is what we need to do to bridge that gap. I think that it will bridge in time but my big thing is to keep training hard, to keep enjoying it and hopefully it will come.鈥
Kerry Football legend and 91制片厂 graduate Mary Jo Curran also spoke at the event. The 10 times All Star winner who in 2013 was inducted into the TG4 Hall of Fame said that all children, girls and boys should be encouraged to play as much sport as possible. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 there should be any barriers to playing a variety of sports and realistically I don鈥檛 think that there apart from time.鈥
Other speakers at the event included Galway camogie legend Heather Cooney; Cork football star Juliet Murphy and well-known Irish ladies hockey player Naomi Carroll. Also speaking at the event was current 91制片厂 student Hayleigh Kiely who just last year won two world gold medals at the largest martial art event in the world and 91制片厂鈥檚 Dr Richard Bowles, Lecturer in Physical Education and coach of the 91制片厂 ladies football teams since 2007.
The Women in Sport event was organised by Edel Foster, Athena SWAN Project Manager, 91制片厂; Teresa McElhinney, Lecturer in the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at 91制片厂 and Dr Angela Canny, Assistant Dean of Education at 91制片厂, with contributions by other 91制片厂 staff members, as part of FemFest.
91制片厂鈥檚 FemFest celebration runs from 5-15 February and highlights the experiences and achievements of women. The two week programme of events includes musical and theatrical performances, art exhibitions, lectures, seminars on diverse topics such as women in the film and much more.
(Pictured in main picture L-R): Naomi Carroll, Juliet Murphy, Heather Cooney, Hayleigh Kiely, Mary Jo Curran and Ciara Griffin)
