By: Catherine Tempany, The Irish Sailing Foundation
The Irish Sailing Foundation is the first sports body to join Philanthropy Ireland — and its story makes a compelling case for why sport belongs at the heart of the philanthropic conversation.
When Irish Sailing’s Eve McMahon won Gold at the Grand Slam regatta in Los Angeles in 2025, few in the crowd knew the full story. Behind that podium moment was an Irish donor who had funded a training base on the Pacific coast — practical, personal philanthropy that gave Eve and her teammates the environment they needed to train in the waters of the 2028 Olympics. It is not the first time a supporter has changed the course of an Irish sailor’s career. Before Rio 2016, an Irish donor offered Annalise Murphy use of a base in Brazil. She won Silver at the Rio Olympic Games. Philanthropy has been part of this story for a long time.
A Foundation Built for Sport
The Irish Sailing Foundation (ISF) was established in 2015 as Ireland’s first foundation created specifically for the philanthropic support of sport. We raise funds to support Irish Sailing’s Performance Pathway — the four-stage programme from junior development to senior Olympic squad through which Ireland’s future champions are built. Our mission goes beyond medals. We believe in the holistic development of young people: the discipline, resilience and leadership that competitive sailing instils are qualities athletes carry into every area of their lives. With the support of our donors, the majority of whom are based here in Ireland, we work to ensure that talent, not background or postcode, determines how far a young sailor can go.
That commitment extends across the island. ISF bursaries have enabled talented athletes from Northern Ireland to choose to compete for Ireland — removing what was, at its root, a financial barrier. The idea that philanthropy can make it possible to opt to compete for Ireland is one we find quietly extraordinary.
The Pathway supports sailors from the age of thirteen through to thirty, accompanying them across the most formative years of their lives. For the vast majority, the destination is not the Olympics — and that is not the point. The skills forged along the way — how to set a goal and pursue it under pressure, how to recover from setbacks, how to lead and be led — are the real prize. A young person who has been through this programme carries something with them long after the racing is over. Donors to the ISF are not simply investing in Irish sailing. They are investing in the people Irish Sailing produces.
What Philanthropy Makes Possible
In 2025, donor support enabled the ISF to provide additional support to more than 50 young athletes. Every high-performance athlete needs access to world-class coaching, sports psychology, strength and conditioning, and nutrition expertise. Sailing adds further layers specific to the sport: meteorological analysis, and sophisticated data and performance analytics using technology common to aerospace and Formula 1. ISF funding helps Irish Sailing offer athletes the full complement of these services — remaining competitive on the world stage while operating on roughly one third of the budget of comparable nations such as Denmark and New Zealand.
The results speak for themselves. In 2025, Irish sailors won six senior international medals. All four of Ireland’s Paris 2024 Olympians were ranked in the World Sailing Top Five. U23 coaching support was a direct factor in Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour winning Bronze at the World Championships, and Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain claiming Gold at the U23 Europeans. The ISF also funded a pilot Coach Development Programme, bringing performance-level coaching to clubs nationwide — the most significant step yet towards all-island access to competitive sailing.
Why Philanthropy — and Why Now
What makes philanthropy specifically impactful — more so than grant funding or commercial sponsorship — is its flexibility and its longevity. State funding is essential but constrained. Commercial sponsorship follows visibility and rarely reaches junior or development athletes. Philanthropy fills the space between: it funds the additional coaching hour, the accommodation bursary, the pilot programme, the LA base. It takes the long view, because donors who give to the ISF are not investing in this year’s results. They are investing in a generation.
For donors in Ireland, the 2024 Finance Act has made giving more accessible than ever. For those with Irish connections in the United States or United Kingdom, the ISF works with the Ireland Funds to enable tax-efficient giving through established structures in both countries. Irish-connected donors abroad have been part of this story since the beginning — from Annalise’s base in Brazil to Eve’s base in LA — and we welcome that connection as part of a broad and generous community.
If you are interested in supporting us, we would love to hear from you.
Contact Catherine Tempany at catherine@sailingfoundation.ie