The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI (Irish: Cónaidhm Oilimpeach na hÉireann)[3] (called the Irish Olympic Council from 1920 to 1952, and the Olympic Council of Ireland from 1952 to 2018)[4] is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ireland. Athletes from Northern Ireland have the option of participating under its auspices or in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team. Its mission statement is "To manage and enhance the performance of Team Ireland at Olympic Games whilst developing the Olympic Movement in Ireland."[5] In 2018 the Olympic Council of Ireland was renamed as the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
Most sports affiliated to the Federation are all-island in scope. Two exceptions in 1922 were athletics and cycling, each of which had rival bodies; the prospect of Olympic competition precipitated their merging into a unified National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA), which affiliated to the Council in 1924.[7] The council has sent a team to all but one of the Summer Olympic Games since 1924. The 1936 Games were boycotted; this was the first Games after the IAAF's 1934 ruling on borders which restricted the NACA's jurisdiction to the Free State.[8] In 1952, the Council changed its own name from "Irish Olympic Council" to "Olympic Council of Ireland" to reinforce its claim to represent the whole island of Ireland rather than merely the Republic.[4] Its team competed as "Eire" in 1948 and "Republic of Ireland" in 1952 before reverting to its preferred name "Ireland" in 1956 after Lord Killanin secured the agreement of Avery Brundage.[4] The OCI and BOA have an agreement that Northern Irish sportspeople may compete for either team although in some sports, including rugby and tennis, Northern Irish athletes are barred from the British team.[9]
On 5 August 2016, the day of the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, police in Rio de Janeiro arrested two people for attempted illegal resale of hundreds of tickets allocated to the OCI. One of the two was employed by THG Sports, which was the OCI's authorised ticket reseller (ATR) in 2012 but not 2016; the OCI denied any involvement. Shane Ross, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, promised a "robust inquiry".[10][11] Pro 10 Sports Management, the OCI's 2016 ATR, said the man arrested was working as their agent to distribute tickets which had been paid for legitimately.[12] On 17 August, Pat Hickey, the OCI president, was arrested in Rio in connection with the investigation.[13] The issue, together with the allocation of tickets for other Olympic events, was set for investigation by a non-statutory inquiry headed by retired High Court judge, Mr Justice Carroll Moran.[14]
Operations
The OFI has a small staff under a Chief Executive,[15] and is based at Olympic House in Howth, County Dublin.[16]
Officials
The offices of President and IOC delegate are honorary, as required by the Olympic Charter.[17]
While the Olympic Charter mandates that the area of jurisdiction of a NOC must coincide with the limits of the country in which it is established and has its headquarters,[22] it does not require this for the national federations of particular sports affiliated to the NOC.[23] Many bodies affiliated to the OCI are organised on an all-island basis, and have selected competitors from Northern Ireland for the Olympics.
The following organisations are affiliated, some of which are very small and share an address at "Sport HQ" in Park West business park:[24]
^ abcdGolf and shooting each have two associations listed by the OCI, although the Olympic Charter states "An NOC shall not recognise more than one national federation for each sport governed by an IF".[30] In each sport, both associations are separately affiliated to the relevant IF (the International Golf Federation[31] and the International Shooting Sport Federation[32])
^"Support Irish Baseball". Baseball Ireland. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. We are fortunate to have the support of some corporate sponsors here in Ireland and America as well as the Olympic Council of Ireland, but this will end shortly due to baseball's eviction from the Olympic Games for 2012.
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