On Friday June 6th, University College Cork hosted the Physical Education Physical Activity and Youth Sport (PEPAYS) Ireland Forum for 2025. This year’s Forum marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of the PEPAYS Ireland Research Centre. The theme of this year’s Forum was ‘Navigating the everchanging landscape of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport’ and our colleagues in UCC coordinated wonderful programme with symposia, panel discussions, along with oral presentations highlighting the latest research across the domains for physical education, physical activity, and youth sport.
The day began with opening addresses from Wesley O’Brien and Nicola Ingram of UCC, followed by a keynote address from the founder of the PEPAYS Ireland Research Centre, Prof. Mary O’Sullivan. Mary delivered a typically comprehensive and insightful keynote to a captivated audience. Following the keynote, the parallel symposia provided some insightful presentations and discussion on the topics of ‘Making Space for Play: Realising Children’s Right to Play in Irish Schools’ (Christina Duff, Orla Kelly, and Michelle Bergin) and ‘An introduction to pedagogies of meaningful experiences in physical education’ (Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Maura Coulter, Richard Bowles, and Grace Cardiff).
Throughout the day, attendees were treated to parallel presentations delivered by academics, teachers, and students. The diversity of topics across physical education, physical activity, and youth sport made choosing sessions a challenge, but a welcome one. Lunchtime offered valuable networking opportunities, which was complemented by engaging “lightning talks” where students presented their research in just three minutes, akin to the format of the “Thesis in Three” competition.
The Forum concluded with an insightful panel discussion (Benny Cullen, Lara Dabbagh, Colin O’Hehir, and Aoife Lane) on ‘Navigating the everchanging landscape of PEPAYS’. The Forum has always represented a unique ‘safe space’ for enjoyable conversation on all matters PEPAYS, affording attendees the opportunity to network and share ideas.
A sincere thank you once again to all the Organising Committee and Scientific Committee, co-chaired by Dr Joao Costa and Dr Wesley O’Brien, for their excellent work in coordinating a fantastic day. Most of all, on behalf of the PEPAYS Ireland Forum Organising Committee, we want to thank all attendees sincerely for your participation at the event. We are already looking forward to the PEPAYS Ireland Forum in 2026, details of which will be released in late October.
Keep up to speed on all PEPAYS Ireland Research Centre developments through our mailing list, website and social media accounts. From researcher spotlight series, keynote lecture seminars and UNESCO Chair initiatives, there is lots in the pipeline for the academic year 2025-26!
Dr. William Hughes is a Research Assistant at the University of Limerick, supporting projects within the Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport (PEPAYS) Research Centre and the Sport and Human Performance Research Centre (SHPRC).
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