Some 49 per cent of adults aged over 16 are now taking part in sport at least once a week, according to the latest report from the Irish Sports Monitor, compiled by Sport Ireland.
The figure, based on participation rates in 2024, is up 2 per cent from 2023.
However, the percentage of people with disabilities taking part in sport is not increasing as quickly, with the gap between those with and without disabilities increasing to 22 percentage points in 2024.
The Irish Sports Monitor Summary Research Report, launched by Minister for Sport Charlie McConalogue on Thursday, also noted the percentage of people taking part in recreational walking has been increasing steadily from 66 per cent in 2017 to 71 per cent in 2024. Only in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, was the percentage of those walking regularly higher, at 74 per cent.
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The annual report also noted the proportion of those taking at least 30 minutes of physical activity, at least five times in the preceding seven days, rose from 39 per cent in 2023 to 40 per cent last year.
However, the numbers cycling for transport once a week or more actually fell from 7 per cent to 6 per cent over the period.
In an address at the launch of the report in the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin, Mr McConalogue said there were increased numbers of people taking part in sport among all levels of the community, “and that’s what we want to see”.
“We have over two million people every week now taking part in sport. We have half a million people in the country taking part through a club and we have half a million volunteers every week supporting the work of those clubs and supporting people to be active in their own community,” he said.
While Mr McConalogue said he was “very happy” with the numbers, “obviously we are concerned about reducing the gap between those with a disability and those who do not have a disability”.
He said the difference in sports participation between the two groups had risen from 17 percentage points in 2017, to 20 percentage points in 2023 and 22 points in 2024. “This is something we need to address,” he said, and he welcomed Sport Ireland’s appointment of a disability in sport lead activist.
“It is great to see, as promised in the Government’s Sports Action Plan, a specific and renewed focus on disability in sport,” he said.
Mr McConalogue also paid tribute to volunteers in sporting organisations who he described as the “lifeblood of sport in Ireland”.
The Irish Sports Monitor 2024 Summary Research Report was compiled by Ipsos B&A and included interviews with 8,515 people aged 16 years and older.
