The Athena Swan charter launched in the Republic of Ireland in early 2015. The extension of the charter to Ireland was made possible through funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA), which covers applications to the charter from 21 higher education institutions. Engagement with the charter is a key pillar of Ireland’s national strategy for gender equality with progress linked to institutional eligibility for funding from Ireland’s major research agencies. All of Ireland’s universities and institutes of technology and several colleges participate in Athena Swan Ireland.

The Athena Swan Ireland charter has recently undergone a re-development in line with the findings of a national consultation and offers a framework for progressing equality in higher education and research that is unique to Ireland. The objective of the Athena Swan Ireland 2021 charter framework is to support higher education institutions, academic departments, and professional units in impactful and sustainable gender equality work and to build capacity for evidence-based equality work across the equality grounds enshrined in Irish legislation. 

The objective of the Athena Swan Ireland 2021 charter framework is to support higher education institutions, academic departments, and professional units in impactful and sustainable gender equality work and to build capacity for evidence-based equality work across the equality grounds enshrined in Irish legislation. The Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences was awarded the Athena SWAN Department Bronze Award in 2021.

The implementation of the PESS Athena SWAN action plan 2021-2025 is overseen by the PESS EDI committee.

Current committee members are: Antonio Calderón, Brigitte Moody, Catherine Woods, Elaine Murtagh, Giles Warrington, Ian Sherwin, Maeve Gleeson, Samantha Glynn, Hilary Curley/Mary Collins, Chelsea Canny & Aurelie VanHoye