An analysis of the management process in sport for development projects in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The growing investment in sport to achieve against an ever-increasing development agenda has been documented within a number of environmental scans (Darnell et al 2018, Levermore and Beacom 2012, Kidd and Donnelly 2007). Scholars, however criticise the lack of evidence and overreliance on the perceived ‘power’ of sport (Sugden 2006). This set against the government tendency to think radically while adopting risk free decisions and perfect systems (Maddock 2002) scrutinised through value for money criteria at a time of austerity and modernisation (Adams and Harris 2014).
Drawing on current sport, sociological and policy literature this thesis takes a theory building approach by adopting Sugden’s (2010) ripple effect model through the inclusion of management studies, to examine Northern Ireland - a post-conflict society in Western Europe - faced with distinctive legacy challenges to modernisation. This thesis aims to interpret both efficiency and effectiveness in the deployment and transition of sport for development initiatives. Commencing with a review of the evolution of sport for development, this investigation identifies the political and social realities which influence the complex public sector and sporting structures in Northern Ireland. There follows a detailed case study approach within the subpopulation Protestant community related to the legacy issues of educational-underachievement and identity, which informs a broader sectoral study.
​​​​​​​The findings demonstrate a flexible multi agency approach managed by trusted community leaders has increased network and structural capacity at a grassroots level. This task-based effectiveness and efficiency is not translated to a macro level a result of financial dependency reinforced by the complex policy ambiguity and sectoral inability to evidence value. Having identified three interlinking phases of sport, this thesis recommends a centrally led cross-governmental strategy to support and measure agreed outcome transitions across sport and development agendas thus, alleviating the bottleneck at the intersection between policy and practice.

Date of Award	Mar 2021
Original language	English
Supervisor	David Hassan (Supervisor) & Paul Kitchin (Supervisor)