Irish Daily Star

Most in sport ‘want to keep current rules on gender categories’ BODY’S NEW GUIDANCE ON TRANS INCLUSION

- ■■Owen CONLON

Ahead of this Easter weekend, a joint water safety appeal is being made for people to stay safe on or near the water.

According to the Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland, knowing some simple water safety advice can help prevent an accident or tragedy.

Gerard O’Flynn, Coast Guard Operations Manager, said: “Always check the weather forecast, ensure you have a means of communicat­ion, plan your activity, and ensure that a colleague is aware of your plans and expected return time.

“Also be alert to the risk of becoming isolated by incoming tides on beaches or coastal areas particular­ly if setting out during lower tides.”

Another 532 people got ED drugs for free on the Long-Term Illness scheme, which covers the cost of certain meds and appliances for people with a range of conditions including cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, and intellectu­al disabiliti­es.

The total cost of providing ED drugs to patients through free and subsidised public schemes

THE vast majority of people working in sport surveyed by Sport Ireland prefer that current rules around gender categories are retained, the body revealed last night.

The detail emerged as Sport Ireland published new guidance on the inclusion of transgende­r and non-binary people in sport in this country.

The guidelines are intended to educate sporting bodies here on the issue of trans participat­ion in general, but Sport Ireland stressed that policy decisions will be left up to individual organisati­ons.

The move comes following a string of controvers­ies around the participat­ion of trans women in female categories in other countries.

US swimmer Lia Thomas, who rose to global prominence by becoming the first transgende­r athlete to win a NCAA college

The cost difference is substantia­l. For example, 33 patients in Limerick were prescribed 50mg Viagra at a total cost of €4,185.44 last year — an average of €126.83 each. Another 123 patients in the county were prescribed 50mg of the Viagra generic Vizarsin at a cost of €2,966.87 — which had an average price of €24.12 each. title, is currently suing the global governing body World Aquatics after it introduced rules in 2022 prohibitin­g anyone who has undergone “any part of male puberty” from the female category.

Other sports have taken a different approach.

In 2021, New Zealand weightlift­er Laurel Hubbard became the first trans woman to compete in the Olympics.

Last weekend, Ireland’s Katie Sheldon was beaten in the final of a 2024 PDC Women’s Series event in Wigan by the Netherland­s’ Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who is the first trans woman to compete on the profession­al darts tour.

To prepare the advice, Sport Ireland surveyed more than 4,000 people in grassroots and high-performanc­e sporting organisati­ons as well as transgende­r and non-binary people and the general public.

It said: “While many from the LGBTI+ community, transgende­r and non-binary people and their families are supportive of inclusion through self-identifica­tion, this view is not shared by the vast majority of people working and taking part in sport who favoured protection of a female category (as assigned at birth).

Science

“Across all groups there was modest support for entry into the female category through requiremen­t such as testostero­ne suppressio­n.

“When the general public was surveyed through the Irish Sports Monitor, results were more spread, with some support for inclusion, but more so for categorisa­tion based on sex asigned at birth.”

It added: “The biomedical science tells us that there are significan­t difference­s in the determinan­ts of sporting performanc­e between the sexes.

“At this time the evidence points to retention of some of these difference­s in transgende­r women, even after transition therapy.

“It is also clear that exercise and sport is important to everyone, both for physical and mental health as well as social benefits, and so Sport Ireland is keen to make sure there is a place for everyone in sport.”

A 2020 study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found transgende­r women retained greater heart and lung capacity, more muscle mass and lower body fat than those assigned the sex at birth.

The study found these advantages could not be balanced out, even after two years of testostero­ne-suppressin­g treatment.

 ?? ?? WINS: (from top) Thomas, Hubbard and Van Leuven
WINS: (from top) Thomas, Hubbard and Van Leuven
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