Former Donegal ladies football captain Nadine Doherty believes the Government need to take a stand when it comes to encouraging more coverage of women’s sport.<\/p>\n
As part of Women in Sport Week, Sport Ireland released the results of a study on Wednesday<\/a> which looked at the gender balance in Irish sports media coverage.<\/p>\n It found that 18% of all Irish national sports news coverage was about women’s sport, while the figure was 22% for national radio sports programming.<\/p>\n Reacting to the revelations from the study, Doherty highlighted the need for more gender balance at board level within media organisations.<\/p>\n “What that shows straight off the bat is how successful 20×20 was. It’s such a pity it was so short-lived,” she said on RT\u00c9 Radio 1’s Inside Sport.<\/p>\n “Across the board a lot of people have a lot to answer for. I think you have to look at the very top of the country and in terms of the Government.<\/p>\n “You can see just how important the Government is and every government in every country when you look at the Olympics and President Trump’s comments about the (US) hockey teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n “That’s going to have a huge detrimental impact on women’s sport in America. People mightn’t think it will but it will.<\/p>\n “So here, our Government do have to take a stand. You could look at it in terms of equality on boards.<\/p>\n “All of our media outlets have boards. You’d need to have gender balance in that regard.”<\/p>\n Doherty also said there was an onus on more female fans to support women’s sport more readily.<\/p>\n “I think as women as well, we need to step up to the plate and to support women’s sport more because that’s not talked about enough,” she said.<\/p>\n “There is a responsibility on women to support their own, and we don’t.<\/p>\n