Description
The speakers will provide an overview of their roles and the challenges they face each day, from a practical perspective, including the impact of Covid 19. Key trends facing sport management and the business of sport in their own applied context and the role that research can play in their organisations will also be explored.
Presenters
Catherine Carty – UNESCO Chair, Institute of Technology Tralee, Ireland – catherine.carty@staff.ittralee.ie
Liam Harbison – Sport Ireland, Sport Ireland Institute – lharbison@instituteofsport.ie
Sarah Keane – Chief Executive Officer, Swim Ireland and President, Olympic Federation of Ireland – sarahkeane@swimireland.ie
Catherine Carty is Manager of the UNESCO Chair in ‘Transforming the lives of People with Disabilities their Families and Communities in Physical Education, Sport, Fitness & Recreation’ including policy and practice across the public and private sector with a global remit, addressing disability inclusion in and through sport. Catherine’s leadership coordinates a global consortium advancing the inclusive specific policy actions of the Kazan Action Plan, with representation from UN agencies, Multilateral agencies, State Parties, Sports Bodies, Academic Networks, NGOs and Civil Society Organisations, including UNESCO, UNDESA, UN Women, UNICEF, WHO, ILO, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Olympic Committee, Paralympic Committee, Special Olympics Internation, Deaflympics and more. Catherine has coordinated sessions in the UN Geneva, UNESCO Paris, UN New York and has spoken at the World Conference of Sports Ministers, the World Urban Forum, the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Conference of State Parties, the Human Rights Social Forum, the African Regional Meeting on Kazan Action Plan Implementation and many other events across 5 continents over the last year.
Liam Harbison is Director of the Sport Ireland Institute tasked with leading Sport Ireland’s performance support delivery unit to Ireland’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes preparing for the Tokyo 2020 and Paris Games. He leads a team of 45 professionals across a range of service disciplines including Sports Medicine, Psychology, Physiotherapy, Physiology, Nutrition, Performance Analysis and Performance Lifeskills. In addition, the Institute provides bespoke peer learning and development opportunities for high performance sport personnel including Performance Directors, Coaches and service providers.
Prior to taking up his post with Sport Ireland Institute, Liam spent 20 years involved with Paralympics Ireland across a ranges of roles and encompassing 5 Paralympic Games – Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. His highlight was his appointment as Chef de Mission for the 2012 Irish Paralympic Team in London, a breakthrough event for disability sport which resulted in an incredible 16 medal haul for Team Ireland, 19th on the official medals table.
Sarah Keane is a qualified solicitor having worked with Matheson Solicitors, a leading Irish law firm, prior to taking up her position as the first Chief Executive Officer of Swim Ireland – the National Governing Body for Swimming, Water Polo, Diving and associated Aquatic Disciplines on the island of Ireland and has held this position for over ten years.
Sarah was elected in February 2017 as the first female President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) (formerly Olympic Council of Ireland). She represented Ireland at the European Olympic Council’s (EOC) Women in Sport & Leadership Talent Event in Poland in April 2015. In 2018 she was appointed the Chair of the EOC’s Gender Equality in Sport Commission and is a member of the newly established ANOC (The Association of National Olympic Councils – 206 nations members) Gender Equality Commission. In July 2019 she was appointed to the International Olympic Committee Women in Sport Commission which advises the IOC Session, the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President on the development and implementation of the IOC Gender Equality Policy and to promote equal opportunities for girls and women to participate in and benefit from sport and physical activity.