OFI President Sarah Keane has announced the launch of the OFI Gender Equality Conference ©OFI

Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) President Sarah Keane has announced the launch of the OFI Gender Equality Conference, which is due to take place next week.

The line-up for the one-day event on March 19 will include high-profile Irish and international decision makers and influencers who will discuss their personal experiences and offer insights into how to ensure that sport is a gender-inclusive environment.

The Conference will take place at Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin, and is supported by the Sport Ireland Women in Sport investment.

The aim is to demonstrate the importance of having gender balance at decision-making level, and to provide concrete examples of how and why having this balance will benefit the wider sporting community.

The Conference is primarily aimed at chief executives, Presidents and the women in sport lead across Member Federations of the OFI, with a limited number of invitations also made available for members of the media and other interested individuals working in this area.


"This is a very important topic for us in Irish society and in Irish sport," Keane said when launching the conference.

"The purpose of this conference is primarily to give examples of practical concrete actions that people can take with a view to ensuring change happens within their organisation to promote gender equality. 

"The international line-up of various high-profile Olympic family male and female keynote speakers and panel delegates will no doubt lend itself to some really interesting discussions and we hope you walk away with some concrete actions from the Conference.

"Gender equality is about having equal representation across all areas and sport should be no different."

The launch of the OFI Gender Equality Conference coincided with International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8 every year around the world.