Cork activist Joanne O'Riordan hosts new documentary on women in sport

TO suggest that women’s sport is having a ‘moment’ would be to grossly underplay the permanent revolution that is taking place in that sphere in this country.

In fact, women’s sport has been around for as long as men’s, but only in recent years has it been receiving the coverage across the national media that it deserves, and connecting to the public in a way only men’s sports usually did previously.

Thus is particularly the case when it comes to team sports.

Individual women such as Sonia O’Sullivan and Derval O’Rourke rightly became national figures on the back of their successes, but Cork, Munster, and Irish teams are now receiving widespread recognition and acclaim for their exploits.

Witness the way Ireland’s hockey team captivated the country as they progressed all the way to the World Cup final in 2018.

And, just the other day, Ireland’s women’s soccer team reached their first-ever World Cup finals, in New Zealand next summer, after beating Scotland in a tense play-off that sent a wave of joy across the nation

Cork activist and sports journalist Joanne O’Riordan is tapping into this zeitgeist in a new documentary called A Sporting Chance on RTÉ1 on Thursday at 10.15pm, in which she looks at women’s sport in Ireland.

She examines if there a level playing field for them and what more can be done to progress Irish women in sport.

We’re in the midst of a golden era for women’s sport in Ireland. Our girls are punching above their weight and winning all round them. But how far do we still have to run to achieve a level playing field?

Joanne, from Millstreet, who writes for The Irish Times, is one of seven currently living people born with the condition Tetra-amelia syndrome, meaning she was born without all four limbs.

She may not be able to play sport herself, but has spent years watching, analysing, roaring and fighting for proper access to all areas – pitches, board rooms, facilities and financing.

Joanne wants to find out if girls are really allowed to get to the top of their game.

The programme includes profiles of Dublin footballer and Ireland rugby player Hannah Tyrrell and boxer Amy Broadhurst, a dive into the potential financial upsides for sponsors and players, a look at Gaelic Games amalgamation, as well as questioning what really is the difference between male and female.

Leading neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Professor Ian Robertson also contributes.