Shane Lowry winning The Open Championship in Portrush is rated as Ireland’s Greatest Sporting Moment of 2019, although, two-weight world champion Katie Taylor remains Ireland’s most admired sportsperson.
Key findings from the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index (TSSI) 2019 suggests women’s sport is making an impact, at least in the public consciousness with the women’s Irish hockey team inseparable from the Dublin Gaelic football team in sharing the Team of the Year honours.
Dublin won an historic five senior football championships in a row under former manager Jim Gavin with the hockey team qualifying for a first ever Olympic place in Tokyo 2020. The women followed up Tokyo qualification after shocking the hockey world in 2018 by reaching the World Cup final in London. Surprising more than a few, there was no splitting the two teams with each receiving 25 per cent of the public vote.
Public attitudes
There was an interesting gender difference in the voting for Team of the Year with Dublin attracting 32 per cent of male votes and 17 per cent of female votes. However, 33 per cent of women voted for the hockey players against 18 per cent of men.
The Teneo survey also shows the Olympic Games next summer, more than Euro 2020, is the event most Irish people are looking forward to watching, while Gaelic games remain Ireland’s favourite sports for the second year in succession.
The TSSI, a 1,000 person nationally representative survey with quotas imposed across gender, region, age and social class, examines Irish public attitudes towards sport and their sporting heroes. In other words, it’s the view of the general public, not a survey of sports fans, carried out between November 19th and November 29th of this year.
Lowry’s win on the famous links course in Portrush edged out Taylor’s achievement of becoming a two-weight world champion in beating Christina Linardatou in the Manchester Arena by just 1 per cent for the Most Memorable Moment. The Offaly man’s first Major win was backed by 30 per cent of respondents with the 2012 Olympic gold medallist taking 29 per cent of the votes.
Reflecting what an impact the hockey team made, Róisín Upton’s dramatic winning sudden-death penalty against Canada with a broken wrist to send Ireland to Tokyo 2020 was voted third Most Memorable Moment on 9 per cent with Wexford winning a rare Leinster title in fourth with 6 per cent and Tipperary’s Séamus Callanan’s vital goal in the All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny fifth on 5 per cent.
The Bray boxer remained Ireland’s Most Admired Sports Star for the third year in succession drawing 25 per cent of votes, more than twice that of Lowry who polled 10 per cent. Ireland and Leinster outhalf Johnny Sexton came in third on 6 per cent.
Gaelic games held on to top spot as Ireland’s Favourite Sports polling 19 per cent of the votes, just ahead of soccer on 18 per cent and third-placed rugby on 13 per cent.
