• Five Active Cities to be rolled out in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford
• Aim is to provide increased opportunities for city residents to be active in their communities.
• Creating change for those who are economically, socially or educationally disadvantaged or those who have a disability. 

Attending the launch for Active Cities were Active Cities National Officer, Mary Corry, DLR Sports Partnership Sports Coordinator,  Shane McArdle, Chairperson DLR Sports Partnership, Pat Smith, Sport Ireland CEO, Dr Una May, Director of Participation, Louise Burke and Oisin Foley, Partnerships Manager.

Read more: €3.4million Invested in Active Cities For An Active Future

Female participation and engagement in sport is currently a hot topic, with many clubs finding it difficult to retain females of all ages and in all positions within their clubs. Especially teenage girls whom by the age of 14, drop out of sport at twice the rate of boys.

Our next Sports Forum meeting from 7-8.30pm on Tuesday 25^th October in The Lexicon Library & Cultural Centre, Dun Laoghaire will bring together a panel of experienced and inspiring sports women from a variety of different sporting backgrounds to discuss their experiences on the topic. They will each speak of how they got involved in sport and why, what made them remain/ return, what challenges they faced along the way, what affect sport has had on their life and what advice they have to offer to other women and girls from their experiences.

We are excited to have Nora Stapleton –Women in Sport Lead with Sport Ireland leading the discussion and to announce the following ladies on our panel.

• Emily Mc Keown- Leinster Rugby
• Bernie Durkan – Sports Psychologist & Ladies Gaelic
• Shauna Fitzsimons – Captain of UCD Boat Club
• Suzanne Logan – Women in Golf Coordinator – Golf Ireland

Also, we welcome Niamh Tallon- HerSport.ie who will present on empowering women and girls at all levels in sport and understanding what is needed to keep them involved. She wants girls and women to see a future in sport, to feel like they belong and to seize opportunities to get involved, no matter what their role.

Read more: Free event for DLR clubs on 'Female Participation and Engagement in Sport'

The rain didn’t dampen spirits at the dlr Community 5K last Saturday 8th October. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Sports Partnership and a range of local agencies hosted the 13th year of this event in Kilbogget Park, Ballybrack. This annual event takes place during the Counties ‘Festival of Inclusion’ and is widely recognised as being all inclusive and bringing together families, friends and the entire community.

At 2pm, An Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Mary Hanafin, set off the starter gun and nearly 800 participants, walked, jogged, rolled and ran the two laps of Kilbogget Park. All participants then received an event t-shirt, medal and piece of fruit once across the finish line.

Read more: The dlr Community 5k returns with a bang!

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Sports Partnership would like to invite applications from sports clubs and organisations under its Club Participation Grant Scheme 2023. The purpose of this grant scheme is to provide assistance to sports clubs/organisations based in the County to develop or expand targeted participation initiatives and the provision of training for volunteers/coaches.

This Club Participation Grants Scheme aims to support sports clubs, coaches and volunteers to develop greater participation among target groups as reflected in the DLR Partnership’s Strategic Plan 2018-2022. As such, for the 2022 grants scheme applications are invited for initiatives that will increase participation in sport and physical activity among girls/women and people with disabilities, especially within an area of disadvantage.

For further details on this grants scheme and to make an application please see the online application process here https://dlrcoco.submit.com/. The final date for applications is the 25^th October 2022.

Read more: Club Participation Grants Scheme 2023