NATIONAL: Sport Ireland guidance receives a guarded welcome by The Countess

Sport Ireland has released its 'Guidance for Transgender and Non-Binary Inclusion in Sport'.

The report was released on Thursday, following after a year-long process undertaken by external consultants.

Commenting on the document, Sorcha Nic Lochlainn, Sport spokeswoman for The Countess -  a non-profit, volunteer-led organisation formed to promote the rights and interests of women and children in Ireland - said: “This guidance document from Sport Ireland essentially confirms what we already knew, most athletes, coaches, volunteers, and parents want to see fairness and safety for women and girls in sport.

“Unfortunately, the guidance is couched in the terminology of gender ideology and still seeks to promote ‘Inclusion’. This usually means inclusion of men and boys into the female category.

“However, such inclusion must never come at the cost of opportunities, fairness, safety, and privacy for women and girls.

“A female-only category using sex at birth as the sole criteria is the only way to ensure women and girls are protected in their sports,” said Ms Nic Lochlainn.

She added: “Male inclusion leads to female exclusion. We know this.

“The Countess calls on sports to decide whether they value fairness and safety for women and girls or inclusion of males who identify as trans or non-binary.”

On the legal aspects of the Sport Ireland report, Ms Nic Lochlainn said: “Although Sport Ireland has its guidance is advisory only, we are pleased to note it confirms that it has always been lawful to exclude males, however they identify, from the female category in sport in Ireland.”

"While many from the LGBTI+ community, transgender and non-binary people and their families, are supportive of inclusion through self-identification, this view is not shared by the vast majority of people working and taking part in sport who favoured protection of a female category," added Ms Nic Lochlainn.

She elaborated: "Despite this statement, the guidance appears to promote policies that favour categories based on the person’s internally held identity, which is anti-science and anti-women.

“Organisations should take note that inclusion can be achieved within sex-based categories, as outlined in the guidance document, which said: ‘It is important that sport encourages inclusion through sex-based categories, irrespective of gender identity so that trans and non-binary people can be accepted and made comfortable in these circumstances.’ This is the only fair and safe approach.”

Ms Nic Lochlainn highlighted that The Countess had been campaigning on this issue since 2020.

She said: “We were the first group to commission a poll of public attitudes around gender ideology.

“A major finding of that research was that most people do not believe men who say they are women should be included in the female category. This is replicated in the Sport Ireland report findings.”

“We are calling on all sport National Governing Bodies, clubs, and organisations to immediately enact policies to protect women and girls, following such international organisations as World Boxing, FINA (Aquatics), and World Athletics and national organisations like the IRFU.

“We are especially calling on the LGFA, which said it received legal advice that it must allow males to play Ladies Gaelic Football, when in fact it made the choice to elevate male demands above women’s rights, to immediately revise its policy.”

Ms Nic Lochlainn commented that the Sport Ireland report noted once again the public view had overwhelmingly aligned with positions taken by organisations like The Countess.

She added: “For too long women have been abused by those who advocate for transgender inclusion.

“Women’s views when it comes to their spaces and sports have been slandered and dismissed as bigoted by activists, state-funded NGOs, politicians, and some segments of the media, when in fact they represent the majority view.

“Even our most esteemed athletes, including Olympian Sonia O’Sullivan, receive terrible abuse for stating simple facts about biology and women’s sports.

“We hope the politicians who have been complicit in this attack on women’s sports, in particular, Aodhán Ó Riordáin and outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar take note of these
findings. Varadkar’s comment that the IRFU should reconsider its science-based policy despite it showing unacceptable injury risks to women from male inclusion and O’Riordan’s statement in 2015 that the notion of protecting women’s sport was ‘strange, odd, unnecessary and slightly offensive’ and ‘bizarre’ were the forerunners of a movement that silenced athletes, scientists, coaches, and volunteers around the country when they dared to point out the reality of biological sex.

“Our organisation has worked hard to open dialogue around these issues and the position of The Countess with regards to women’s single-sex sports has been thoroughly vindicated by this research.

"The Countess will be releasing its Sport Position Paper shortly and can offer information and advice to individuals and organisations on how the Sport Ireland guidance can be implemented."