Harte of the Matter on gender balance

Last week we had the spectacular anti-Semitic piece in the Sunday Times.

It's hard to know what was going on in Kevin Myers’ head when he wrote his ludicrous piece and finished his career as a journalist.

His rationale for such a rant can't be glossed over. Surely the management of the Sunday Times must take some blame for the episode. Clearly someone internally must have noticed the rant he was on and let it be published.

The piece may have been taken down and an apology issued, but in the age of the internet this means little anymore. In short, to give someone like Myers the column space to rant on about something that is racist and vile is damaging for the Irish press and the government too.  How many other Myers are there out there?  

Myers singled out female broadcasters which clearly shows him to be so far removed from reality that you'd think he was writing in the last century. Unfortunately he is part of a thinking community that have disregard for the ordinary people.  I'm glad he was outed.

Of course it was the issue of gender balance - specifically the alleged gender pay gap at BBC and RTE – which sparked Myers’ outburst in the first place. Likewise in sport, gender balance is an issue. Stakeholders and the Irish government need to ensure measures around recruitment policies and apprenticeships guidelines are taken seriously to support gender equality in sport.

Recruitment policies must ensure that positions on boards and in coaching are accessible for women. For young women particularly, developing the skills required to become members on executive boards, managers and selectors could be supported through apprenticeship positions through community schemes initially.

Training facilities for female coaches need further development and greater coverage for female events can also be improved.

Ultimately these measures not only help women but the world of sport in general.