Government have to take stand on women's sport

Former Donegal ladies football captain Nadine Doherty believes the Government need to take a stand when it comes to encouraging more coverage of women's sport.

As part of Women in Sport Week, Sport Ireland released the results of a study on Wednesday which looked at the gender balance in Irish sports media coverage.

It found that 18% of all Irish national sports news coverage was about women's sport, while the figure was 22% for national radio sports programming.

Reacting to the revelations from the study, Doherty highlighted the need for more gender balance at board level within media organisations.

"What that shows straight off the bat is how successful 20x20 was. It's such a pity it was so short-lived," she said on RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport.

"Across the board a lot of people have a lot to answer for. I think you have to look at the very top of the country and in terms of the Government.

"You can see just how important the Government is and every government in every country when you look at the Olympics and President Trump's comments about the (US) hockey teams.

"That's going to have a huge detrimental impact on women's sport in America. People mightn't think it will but it will.

"So here, our Government do have to take a stand. You could look at it in terms of equality on boards.

"All of our media outlets have boards. You'd need to have gender balance in that regard."

Doherty also said there was an onus on more female fans to support women's sport more readily.

"I think as women as well, we need to step up to the plate and to support women's sport more because that's not talked about enough," she said.

"There is a responsibility on women to support their own, and we don't.

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"I know a lot of my friends, I know a lot of people who would go to a men's game before a women's game and they can't even give a reason why.

"I just think it's an inherently in their psyche sometimes in this country.

"There was a really interesting study done at Maynooth University (by) Dr Anne O'Brien a couple of years ago.

"She looked at what's been done around the world and in Sweden they decided a couple of years ago that for every men's sporting report, they would do a women's one. That reaped huge benefits. It really does need to start from the top."

Doherty also pointed to the online sphere as low hanging fruit with which, for example, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Camogie Association could both make more use of.

"Obviously social media is free. It's improved massively over the years from both associations. But it can always be better," she said.

"The LGFA have a podcast this year which is brilliant - the 'Edge of the Square'. It's on YouTube. There's just a lot that can be done for free and I think we can do a lot more.

"I work in print media. I'm lucky to have an editor, John Greene from the Sunday Indo, who probably devotes the most in terms of his pages to women's sport, and that's amazing.

"But there are other newspapers who don't have any. So I just think a lot of people can do a lot more. I first and foremost would look to home."

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