People in Sport.<\/em><\/p>\nCantwell recognises that not every sports person has barriers. That was her experience back then, but it\u2019s on to bigger and better now.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely some of them were not how they should have been. I think if we were in a different time, they\u2019d be exposed to being not ok. They\u2019re not ok when other teams, just of different gender, are not being treated that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been improvements across the board thankfully, she smiles. There\u2019s more transparency, and people are tackling mindsets. There\u2019s a culture shift underway.<\/p>\n
Driving that on is top of the job spec of her new role, as she implements Sport Ireland\u2019s first Women in Sport policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Performance Support Director, mother to 16-month-old baby Scarlet \u2014 and loving motherhood \u2014 and rugby pundit among much, much more; Cantwell is a busy woman.<\/p>\n
Her new role was one she jumped at how and ever, her passion and belief in the policy, and enthusiasm with her committee shining through with every word.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and it\u2019s so worthwhile,\u201d she smiles. \u201cIf you\u2019ve been campaigning for this type of thing along with other Irish sportspeople and women for so many years\u2026 if you get an opportunity to be able to back it and push it forward at a strategic level, you\u2019re going to bite the hand off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chair of Sport Ireland’s new Women in Sport committee Cantwell at yesterday’s launch. Source: James Crombie\/INPHO<\/p>\n
\u201cThe steering committee is so, so strong. The policy is really strong. There are some great guys in Sport Ireland behind it as well. It\u2019s in a really, really good place to make a big impact. We want to make sure that\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fairly easy when you\u2019re so passionate about it, so?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cIt takes so little for somebody to be inspired and go in a direction. If I think of who are my role models as a kid: Sonia O\u2019Sullivan, Susan Smith, Mary Robinson. Those people that you see as a kid, you go, \u2018Oh my God.\u2019 It\u2019s only now as I\u2019m older, I realise, \u2018Jesus Christ, Mary Robinson was out of this world amazing.\u2019 That was 30 years ago.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s visable on television screens across the length and breadth of the country anyway, sharing her knowledge and expertise on the women\u2019s \u2014 and men\u2019s \u2014 rugby beat with RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n
Cantwell is evidently enjoying her duties on that front and while it might be difficult to share more critical opinions of players from time to time considering she\u2019s still involved in those circles, that doesn\u2019t bother her too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy to continue to contribute once you\u2019ve got expertise. I think it\u2019s important on the line of visability for anybody new to a sport when they tune in, they want to see people of knowledge that are delivering the content. From that point of view, I have that and I\u2019m very, very happy to contribute.<\/p>\n
Since the pretty disastrous home Rugby World Cup in 2016 and the controversy and backlash that followed, and even since last year\u2019s Six Nations, there have been improvements this year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In Six Nations action in 2014. Source: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s still a long, long way to go for Adam Griggs\u2019 side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much change to the team from year to year, every year,\u201d she nods, agreeing that there have been improvements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on a little bit of a hamster wheel at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The time to exit that is nearing thought, she feels.<\/p>\n
But to the present first. France on Saturday evening at Donnybrook.<\/p>\n
After a heavy opening round defeat to England, bouncing back to beat Scotland across the water, but losing out to Italy in Rome, a massive challenge awaits.<\/p>\n
\u201cFingers crossed for the weather, \u2018France don\u2019t travel well\u2019, all of those clich\u00e9s; you never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
You do never know.<\/p>\n
Little did Lynne Cantwell know she\u2019d be in this new role, with a world of opportunity at her feet.<\/p>\n
Sport Ireland yesterday launched a new Women in Sport Policy which aims to achieve equal participation between males and females in sport. Coaching and Officiating, Active Participation, Leadership and Governance and Visibility are the four key target areas that will be addressed by Sport Ireland\u2019s new Women in Sport Policy.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
***<\/em><\/p>\nAndy Dunne joins Murray Kinsella and Ryan Bailey to discuss Joe Schmidt\u2019s undroppables and how France might attack Ireland\u2019s predictability in The42 Rugby Weekly.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: The42 Rugby Weekly\/SoundCloud<\/p>\n
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANY WILL REMEMBER the highs of Lynne Cantwell\u2019s Irish rugby career. The 2013 Grand Slam, beating the Black Ferns and becoming the first-ever Ireland team to beat a New Zealand side at the 2014 World Cup, finishing fourth there. From her debut in 2001 to her farewell in 2014, the legendary 13 donned the green … <\/p>\n
Read more “From ‘not ok’ barriers to breaking down more and more for go-getter Cantwell”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}