About Us
Why the Irish Sailing Foundation Exists
The Foundation exists to bridge the financial gap that exists between the funding received from Sport Ireland and the actual cost of running the Irish Sailing Pathway programme.
In 2024, the operational cost to Irish Sailing was €1.8m. Sport Ireland funding was €1.2m. The Sailing Foundation helped to reduce this deficit.
Irish Sailing’s development strategy aims to expand the Pathway programme which will cost €2.6m annually. At present Irish Sailing lacks the financial capability to achieve this expansion. The Irish Sailing Foundation is focussed on helping Irish Sailing make this a reality.
Denmark and New Zealand are examples of small successful sailing nations with similar demographics. Both spend circa €3m annually on High-Performance programmes. Sailing is one of the most popular sports and most successful sports in both countries.
Vision & Mission
Our Vision is to unlock Ireland’s full potential as a sailing nation by offering more talented and ambitious sailors, regardless of their financial circumstances, the opportunity to compete for Ireland.
Our Mission is to bridge the gap between the funding received from Sport Ireland and the actual cost of running world-class High-Performance programmes.
Our Values
Empowering
Empowering talented and ambitious sailors to represent Ireland at the highest level of sailing.
Dynamic
The world of High-Performance sailing is continually evolving. The Irish Sailing Foundation recognises and understands the need to continually adapt and progress.
Inclusive
The ISF is committed to ensuring that High-Performance sailing in Ireland is inclusive to all those who wish to succeed at the highest level in the sport, regardless of background or gender.
Efficient
As a Not-For Profit organisation, we are committed to the highest standard of governance and to ensuring that our organisation is lean in its approach.
How We Are Funded
The ISF raises funds, not only to bridge the existing funding gap, but also to facilitate the expansion of Irish Sailing’s Pathway Programmes.
As an All-Island sport, we want to offer opportunity to talent across the island of Ireland.
State
Funding
Significant State funding is provided for the Pathway Programme through Sport Ireland, although a shortfall will remain in line with Sport Ireland’s published strategy
Philantrophic
Donations
Raising philanthropic donations is the core of the Foundations work. We work with an expanding network of donors to support more sailors through the Pathway and achieve podium success for Irish Sailing
Corporate
Sponsorship / CSR
Corporate Sponsorship and CSR play a significant role in offering greater opportunity to Irish athletes, regardless of background. The ISF provides financial support through graduate programmes, scholarships and internships.
Sailing in Ireland
Sailing is one of Ireland’s top Olympic sports. Over our 100 years of Olympic participation, sailing has driven 10% of Team Ireland’s medals. It is one of only four Olympic sports in which both male and female athletes have won medals for Ireland.
Sailing is a core part of Ireland’s maritime heritage. Our clean, green sport, using the natural resources of wind and waves, has grown substantially thanks to better access. With 130 clubs and training centres across our inland lakes and coastline, provide easy access to sailing.
We now count 90,000 people as regular sailors.
A key tenet of Irish Sailing’s strategy is to increase participation in sailing, by making it more accessible and lowering the barrier to entry.
Inspiring the community to take up sailing through top performances on the international stage is a proven way of generating more uptake of the sport.
High Performance Sailing in Ireland
All High-Performance sport in Ireland comes under the remit of Sport Ireland’s High Performance unit, whose objective is to be “inclusive of those with talent, whilst focussing on providing resources to those with most potential to succeed”.
Best practice in High Performance sport is continually evolving and Irish Sailing also benefits from Sport Ireland’s learnings in this area.
Our Board
Colm Barrington - Chairman
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Colm has raced dinghies and keelboats successfully in Ireland, Europe, the U.S., the Caribbean and Australia where he has won club, regional and national championships. He is a three time winner of the Round Ireland Yacht Race and has won the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Britannia Cup on two occasions. He has also cruised extensively world-wide.
Colm has been professionally involved in international aviation for many years. He is the Chief Executive of NYSE listed FLY Leasing Limited and former Chair of Aer Lingus plc.
Colm has been chair of the ISA’s Olympic Steering Group since 2005.
Tom Roche - Director
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Tom is a founding Director of NTR (National Toll Roads) plc. and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
He also holds a number of other Directorships. Tom graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an MA (Economics) Degree and holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
An accomplished sailor, Tom is a member of both the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the New York Yacht Club.
Triona Byrne - Director
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Triona qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG before founding her own accounting practice. Triona Byrne qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG before founding her own small accounting practice. She then joined Cuisine de France at its very beginnings and remained there until it was sold in 1997.
A career change followed, which involved buying into a shop fitting company which she sold profitably. She then worked with Gem Pack Foods Ltd as financial controller, after which she joined The Jelly Bean Factory, which was acquired by Swedish company Cloetta.
Triona’s son Conor is a former Irish Laser (a one-person dinghy) National Champion.
Eimear Lysaght - Director
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Coming soon…
Max Doyle - Director
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Max is a first class honours graduate of Business and Law, Trinity College Dublin. He is the Founder of the ‘One for Ireland’ charity initiative for the Irish Youth Foundation targeting Homelessness and Mental Health.
Max continued his philanthropic journey as a Young Leader with The Ireland Funds of America while working in Business Development with Brightflag in New York. He returned to Dublin in 2018 and began working in operations with the highly successful family business, Doyle Shipping Group.
Growing up in Kinsale, Co. Cork, Max was a keen sailor throughout his youth. He is a dedicated sportsman playing school rugby and competitive tennis for many years. His experience with performance sports comes from his management of the double Olympic pentathlete Arthur Lanigan-O’Keefe leading up to and throughout during Rio 2016.
James O’Callaghan - Director
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James O’Callaghan’s responsibility is to develop and deliver athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the ISA’s Performance Pathway. James works under the guidance of the Olympic Steering Group.
James, from Malahide in Dublin, is a business and economics graduate of Trinity College. He is a Level 3 qualified coach and Level 2 coach tutor. In 1998, along with Trevor Millar, he founded SailCoach Associates a successful coaching company based in France. James was a key member in the development and delivery of the SailCoach business model from foundation to 2002.
His broad range of experience also includes coaching at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. Since 2006 he has been the Performance Director for the ISA and results have steadily improved during his time at the helm. At the Rio 2016 Olympics his programme delivered Ireland’s first sailing medal in 36 years.
John Menton - Director
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Coming soon…
Governance
Sporting Organisations in Ireland are not considered charitable entities. The Irish Sailing Foundation is recognised as a Body for Public Good.
The ISF is registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee and is audited independently on an annual basis. All audited accounts are publicly available.
