History

The PEPAYS Ireland Research Centre was established in January 2005 by Professor Mary O'Sullivan. Dr Deborah Tannehill took up the position of Co-Director of the Centre with Professor O’Sullivan in 2006. In 2014, Co-Directorship was transferred to Dr Ann MacPhail, University of Limerick and Dr Elaine Murtagh, Mary Immaculate College. Professor Ann MacPhail remains as a Co-Director with Dr Brendan O’Keeffe, University of Limerick, taking up the role of Co-Director in 2022.

The Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport (PEPAYS) Ireland Research Centre has become known nationally and internationally for the quality of its research outputs and has been a destination of choice for international scholars to visit and work with staff and post-graduate students. PEPAYS Ireland researchers have supervised to completion numerous postgraduate students at Masters and Doctoral level with a number supported by Irish research funding bodies. PEPAYS Ireland researchers publish frequently in high-quality peer-reviewed journals. Research funding has been secured from Irish sporting, health and educational agencies as well as European funding such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. The Centre hosted its largest event to date in 2011 with 350 delegates from 30 countries attending the first ever International Conference for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP) in Ireland.