“A lot done, more to do” was the gist of the message from Sport Ireland when it launched its gender balance in Irish sports media report in Abbotstown on Wednesday. The chief finding of their research was that 18 per cent of sports coverage in Ireland in 2025, across print, television, radio and online, was about women’s sport.
As now retired Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane, who was MC of the event, told the audience, “some of you will know me, many of you won’t – and this is the reason why.”
While that figure has increased year by year, “more must be done to improve things,” said John Foley, chairperson of Sport Ireland, “and it will take all of sport’s stakeholders working together to bring this about.”
Women’s sport fared best in the print media, taking 21.4 per cent of its coverage, while its lowest representation came online, with just under 16 per cent.
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Of the 20 people who received the most mentions in sports news last year, just three were women – athletes Kate O’Connor and Sarah Healy and golfer Leona Maguire.
O’Connor, who capped a remarkable year by winning silver in the heptathlon at the World Championships, was third in that list, behind Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Healy and Maguire were 13th and 14th, respectively, while footballer Katie McCabe, athlete Rhasidat Adeleke and boxer Katie Taylor were just outside the top 20.
In terms of team coverage, only the Irish women’s rugby and football teams made the top 20, in 15th and 16th, the top five slots filled by the Irish and Leinster men’s rugby teams, Liverpool, Manchester United and Munster rugby.
Nora Stapleton, director of strategic national governing body programmes and women in sport lead, also noted the lack of diversity when it came to the spread of sports that receive the most coverage, with five dominant – football, rugby, Gaelic football, hurling/camogie and golf took up 75 per cent of the space.
Outside those five, women fared better in coverage, notably in athletics, boxing, rowing, para-swimming and para-athletics. Camogie had a significant spike in coverage in 2025, but that was largely due to the controversy surrounding the skorts issue.
“While media companies play a crucial role, Sport Ireland recognises that achieving genuine gender balance in sports media requires a system-wide approach,” said Stapleton. “Everyone from Government to national governing bodies, coaches, managers, venues, event promoters, and the public can all have a part to play in creating the conditions for balanced coverage.”
