Sport and Ireland's Future

Precisely because of the utility of sport, we believe that dialogues about the future of this island which omit sport are not only out of focus but, more importantly, they ignore an important cultural force. Thus, irrespective of where you place yourself on the sports continuum - from living and loving sport to being nonplussed or even detesting it - we invite all of you to take this reflexive journey. This is in order that everyone might participate in and share the possibilities for a genuinely shared and inclusive sportive future on this island; that is, one based on mutual understanding and respect and offers new perspectives on old issues. Here, we consider north-south relations and their relevance for sport. In doing so we signpost interim steps and highlight some challenges that we think are likely to arise. First, however, we set out the utility of sport and its role as an expression of cultural and national identities. Here we keep one eye on the past in ways that do not blind us to the future.