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 Barrington has an extensive background in both competitive sailing and international aviation. He has raced dinghies and keelboats successfully across Ireland, Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, and Australia, winning club, regional, and national championships. He is a three-time winner of the Round Ireland Yacht Race and has twice won the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Britannia Cup. He has also cruised extensively worldwide.
Professionally, Colm has held senior leadership roles in international aviation. He is Chief Executive of NYSE-listed FLY Leasing Limited and is the former Chair of Aer Lingus plc.
He has been Chair of Irish Sailing’s High Performance Committee since 2005, contributing long-standing leadership and governance experience to the development of high-performance sailing in Ireland.
Tom Roche - Director
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Tom Roche is Chairman of NTR plc, where he also serves as a founding Director. He has held a number of other directorships across infrastructure and investment-focused organisations.
Tom graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an MA in Economics and holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
An accomplished sailor, he is a member of both the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the New York Yacht Club, and remains actively involved in the sport alongside his professional and governance roles.
Gina Laverty
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Gina Laverty is Group Chief Financial Officer at Viatel Technology Group, with over twenty years’ experience in finance, strategy, and international leadership.
Since joining Viatel in 2021, she has helped shape the company’s strategic direction, including M&A activity and the onboarding of Macquarie Capital as a shareholder, supporting its growth as a provider of integrated technology solutions in cybersecurity, secure networking, and Microsoft-based services.
She previously held senior roles at Global Payments, including involvement in the sale of Realex and later serving as Senior Vice President for International Finance. She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a Chartered Accountant.
Eimear Lysaght - Director
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Coming soon…
John Menton - Director
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John Menton has a background spanning investment, elite sport, and corporate law, bringing extensive experience in leadership, governance, and high-performance environments. He is an active investor focused on technology and life sciences companies, both directly and through venture and angel investment groups including Irrus.
A former Olympian, John represented Ireland in the discus at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and remains deeply involved in Irish sport. He currently chairs the High Performance Committees of Irish Sailing and also volunteers across a range of sporting organisations, including rugby and athletics.
Earlier in his career, John was a corporate lawyer with Arthur Cox, where he specialised in advising technology and life sciences companies on venture capital and venture debt transactions, as well as intellectual property and commercial matters. He also served on the boards of Irish subsidiaries of global companies including Cisco, Gap Inc., Rackspace Technology, and PayPal, and was a member of the firm’s Management Committee while serving as Head of the Corporate Department.
James O’Callaghan - Director
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James O’Callaghan is the Performance Director at Irish Sailing, where he is responsible for developing and delivering athlete-focused, coach-led, and performance-measured programmes across the organisation’s Performance Pathway. He works under the guidance of the High Performance Committee.
Originally from Malahide, Dublin, James is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, where he studied Business and Economics. He is a Level 3 qualified coach and Level 2 coach tutor, and also holds a Diploma in Executive Coaching from University College Cork.
In 1998, James co-founded SailCoach Associates with Trevor Millar, a successful coaching organisation based in France. He played a central role in building and delivering the SailCoach business model from its inception through to 2002.
His coaching experience spans five Olympic Games, along with numerous European and World Championship campaigns across multiple Olympic classes. Since becoming Performance Director in 2006, he has overseen a sustained improvement in Irish Sailing performance, culminating in Ireland’s first Olympic sailing medal in 36 years at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
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.
