IFA tackle social responsibility

The Irish Football Association (IFA) is running an international Sport and Social Responsibility conference at the Wellington Park hotel in Belfast today, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

Racism tackled
Key issues which will be addressed at the conference included racism, sectarianism, violence and gender issues in sport. IFA community relations officer Michael Boyd said: "With support from the Community Relations Council, the Sports Council, the University of Ulster, and the United States Consulate we are able to make this conference happen. We are excited as we have world-renowned academics and practitioners coming from the USA, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England to take part."

Special guests
Boyd also co-ordinates the Football For All campaign, which aims to make football more inclusive in Northern Ireland. It is funded by the Community Relations Council through the EU Special Support Programme (Peace Two Money). Special invited guests include Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy, Alison Vaughn from Kick it Out and Helen Miller, a representative of Scottish anti-sectarian programme Nil by Mouth.

'Positive relations'
"Our target audience for the conference is people who use sport to promote positive community relations," said Boyd. "We are having cutting edge workshops on Connecting Communities Through Sport, Using Sport to Promote Positive Community Relations and Managing Change, Translating Policy into Practice." The keynote speaker at the conference is Professor Jay Coakley from Colorado, USA, author of 'Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies'.

Further information
For further information contact Mike Boyd on +44 (0)77959 582774 OR mboyd@irishfa.com.