Irish Handball News

03/07/2025

Olympic Handball Ireland & Sport Ireland — A Case of Failed Governance Oversight

Despite years of constitutional breaches, overlapping roles, and lack of transparency, Olympic Handball Ireland (OHI) continues to receive public funding—without meaningful governance reform.

This in-depth article reveals not only OHI’s ongoing internal failures, but also raises serious questions about Sport Ireland’s role in upholding accountability.

👉 Who’s protecting integrity in Irish sport?
👉 Can real improvements begin without responsibility?

📌 Read the full story: https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-7-sport-irelanhgkd-and-olympic-handball-ireland-a-case-of-failed-governance-oversight

Ongoing Governance Concerns and Limited OversightThe governance issues of Olympic Handball Ireland (OHI) were formally brought to Sport Ireland’s attention in May 2024. At that point, the president had already served 16 years, including two consecutive terms without formal re-election. Additional ...

02/07/2025

Can a system built on trust deliver real accountability—or meaningful change in governance?

What does the case of Olympic Handball Ireland reveal about oversight, funding, and governance in Irish sport?

📖 Read more: https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-6-sport-governance-in-ireland-roles-rules-and-a-system-built-on-trust

What does it say about Ireland’s sport governance system when a national sports body can repeatedly breach its own constitution—even under Sport Ireland’s oversight—yet face no consequences and continue receiving public funding?The following two articles in this series examine the case of Ol...

23/06/2025

How Is Governance Working Across Irish Sport?

We’re carrying out a national study to better understand how governance is experienced across all sports in Ireland —from clubs to governance bodies.

Whether you're an athlete, coach, volunteer, administrator, or involved in any other way, your perspective matters.

🔍 We’re examining areas including:

– Transparency and accountability
– Fairness and inclusion
– Decision-making and participation
– Experiences of speaking up
– Managing conflicts of interest
– Sport Ireland oversight

🗣️ This is a confidential space to share your experience — whether positive, challenging, or somewhere in between. Your input will help build a clearer picture and support positive change in Irish sport.

👉 Share your experience (and contact info if open to follow-up):
https://form.jotform.com/251732110713040

✅ You can remain anonymous
✅ Help shape the future of sport in Ireland

Thank you for being part of this important conversation. 💚🤍🧡

03/06/2025

Unlocking the Potential of Irish Handball: Empowering Our Coaches for the Future

📰 Read the full article at https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/unlocking-the-potential-of-irish-handball-empowering-our-coaches-for-the-future

🔗 Direct link in bio / latest post.

Photo credit: Max van Kooy

Handball in Ireland stands at a pivotal moment. While the number of active teams and youth participants may rise and fall, the deeper challenge lies not in the statistics—but in how we invest in the people who shape the game: our coaches.At present, Irish handball is experiencing one of its lowest...

24/05/2025

In Part 5 of our series, we explore how concerns about governance in Irish handball are often dismissed as “just criticism” — and how fear of losing funding or relationships is silencing necessary conversations.

Read the full article now.
🔗https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-5-silence-support-and-the-struggle-to-speak-up-in-irish-handball

Photo credit: Max van Kooy

Following Parts 3 and 4 — which examined club silence and athletes exclusion — this article explores how limited transparency and a lack of accountability continue to hold back Irish handball. It questions whether current systems support real progress or simply protect those already in power.Bey...

18/05/2025

A Season Ends!

Irish handball’s 2024–2025 season wrapped with medals, milestones, and a reminder that true leadership goes beyond the scoreboard.

From celebration to scrutiny, here's what mattered most — on and off the court. 🏆

📖 Read the full article: https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/a-powerful-season-closes-with-triumph-transition-and-the-call-for-true-leadership

The 2024–2025 Olympic Handball season in Ireland concluded this weekend with a thrilling double fixture between the two top-performing clubs — Dublin City Handball and Dublin International. These final matches were more than just contests for medals; they were a celebration of talent, determinat...

16/05/2025

Part 4: Who Speaks for Irish Handball?

👉 Read now: https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-4-clubs-athletes-and-the-cost-of-silence

Previously, in part 3, we explored club silence in key governance moments. This part turns to athlete involvement, internal culture, and the cost of speaking up.Athletes: Key Stakeholders, Still on the Sidelines “Athletes are one key stakeholder group that has historically been kept away from deci...

12/05/2025

🏆 A historic weekend in Irish Olympic Handball!
Dublin City stuns Astra in both men’s and women’s matches — signaling a shift in power on the court. Read the full recap and what it means for the league ➡️ https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/a-historic-weekend-in-irish-olympic-handball-a-shift-in-power

09/05/2025

Part 3: The Cost of Clubs Not Leading in Irish Handball

When athletes are left out and clubs stay quiet, the sport pays the price.

Read more on - https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-3-the-cost-of-clubs-not-leading-in-irish-handball

In Irish handball, as in many sports, clubs form the foundation of development—providing access, competition, and the athlete base that gives national federations their legitimacy. Importantly, under Olympic Handball Ireland’s (OHI) own Constitution, the 5 member clubs collectively hold the majo...

06/05/2025

Olympic Handball Ireland joined the conversation on the future of European clubs and the EHF Champions League — but what about the future of Irish handball clubs?

While high-level plans are discussed in Vienna, grassroots handball at home continues to struggle.

➡️ Read more - https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/no-team-no-program-no-progress-the-reality-behind-our-european-representation

Image source: Olympic Handball Ireland (OHI) / Social Media

In 25 April 2025, Olympic Handball Ireland (OHI) proudly announced on some of the social media pages that its President Fintan Lyons, represented the country at the Men’s Competitions Conference in Vienna happened between 9-10 April—a prestigious event hosted by the European Handball Federation ...

02/05/2025

What really happened during Irish Handball’s 2024 presidential election?

After serving two terms without re-election, Fintan Lyons remained in office without a mandate, was later co-opted into the role—despite the Constitution explicitly forbidding co-option for the presidency—and ultimately stood as a candidate for the same position he had held without electoral legitimacy.

👉 Read the full article on our website: https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-2-when-sport-stops-playing-fair-the-cost-of-weak-oversight-in-publicly-funded-irish-sport

28/04/2025

🔎 A year after governance failures surfaced, a deeper look at Olympic Handball Ireland!

➡️ See what happened in Irish handball — and where things stand now — https://www.irishhandballnews.com/post/part-1-governance-under-scrutiny-the-rise-of-questions-inside-olympic-handball-ireland

Thanks to contributions from active and former members — and explanations from sport governance scholar Dr. Jörg Krieger, professor at Aarhus University and director of the Olympic Studies Centre, who has studied governance in global sport organisations.

He is the author and co-author of key works such as:

- Power and Politics in World Athletics

- Corruption in Sport: Causes, Consequences, and Reform

- Athletes Pressing Charges: Fighting for the Future of Modern Pentathlon

One year after governance failures first came to light, Olympic Handball Ireland (OHI) remains under scrutiny — with serious questions still surrounding its governance, transparency and accountability.At the first meeting with clubs in September 2024, what was truly disclosed about the absence of ...