How Irish women have broken down barriers in sport

Analysis: despite the success stories, women in Irish sport have had to constantly fight uphill battles and more still needs to be done

Sport is a powerful platform for empowering women and girls and for promoting gender equality. However, women involved in Irish sport constantly fight uphill battles. Here are some stories of Irish women who have broken down barriers in sport - and why more still needs to be done.

The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 were an all-male affair but 12 women competed in the 1900 Games in Paris. Those numbers rose gradually and in 1956, Maeve Kyle became Ireland's first female Olympic track and field athlete (100m and 200m) and she had to raise £200 to cover the cost of the trip to Melbourne.

Kyle remembered how many people did not approve of her participation: "I had the distinction of having a letter in the Irish Times saying what a disgraceful hussy I was going off to the Olympics, leaving my husband and small child behind. That shows you the attitude of certain sections of what was a very conservative society.". She went on to compete in the Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964, earning herself the nickname of the Irish Suffragette of athletes.

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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News interview from 1968 with Maeve Kyle

The Olympic Games held in London in 2012 marked the first time in the history of the Olympics that all 204 participating countries sent at least one woman to compete. Another precedent set during the 2012 games was that any new