September 17, 2025 • 32 mins
On this episode of advocacy talks we catch up with Sean Moyles from vision sports Ireland to learn about his research into physical literacy for those with acquired visual impairments.
Sean also tells us about how he got into sport growing up, with major influence from his parents.
Have an acquired visual impairment? Complete Sean‘s survey here. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=9G3_Y6KeI062qbTCTc4rvHW0LpBWS-9CkVP-EDCvHxtUMEtUUzJDWlJVSTBVSVkzTEI4TjlJRTFJVy4u
To get in touch with the advocacy team send an email to campaigns@vi.ie.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to Advocacy Talks, a podcast from the
advocacy team at Vision Ireland.
Here's what's coming up on thisepisode.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
And now, here's Madeleine
SPEAKER_01 (00:43):
McNamara.
SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
Hello everybody and welcome to Vision Island's
Advocacy Talks.
It's Madeleine here again andthank you so much for joining me
today.
In our last episode we werehighlighting our campaign called
Clear Our Paths which is aboutraising awareness of the
temporary obstacles on ourfootpaths and I spoke to the
wonderful Deirdre and Roisin whoare service users with Vision
(01:09):
Island and they did a great jobof kind of highlighting the
challenges that temporaryobstacles on our footpaths pose.
So if you did miss that, pleasedo listen back.
It's really well worth a listen.
Well, today we're going to betalking all about sport and
particularly about people whohave acquired vision loss and
(01:29):
their access to sport and howthey engage with that.
And to help me discuss that, I'mjoined by Sean Moyles, who is
the Physical ActivityCoordinator with Vision Sports
Ireland.
And just in case he isn't busyenough doing that, he's also
undertaking a Master's degreeand we're going to talk about
the research that he's doing aspart of that.
(01:50):
So hello Sean and welcome somuch to Advocacy Talks.
SPEAKER_02 (01:53):
Thanks so much Madeleine, really looking
forward to our chat and yeahit's great to be on.
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
Oh you're very welcome, really good to have you
on the show and really just tokick off I just thought maybe
you might tell us a little bitabout yourself and how you ended
up working in Vision Sports.
SPEAKER_02 (02:13):
Yeah, so.
I suppose a bit of background tomyself.
So I have a vision impairmentmyself.
I have albinism and also havenystagmus with that.
I would say I suppose I havequite a useful level of vision,
(02:35):
but I suppose it's.
My sensitivity, particularlywith glare and light outdoors,
would be quite challenging.
And then obviously with the kindof fine detail in the distance.
I don't know, for example, on achart, maybe I'd get three lines
or something like that, but Iwouldn't be getting much past
(02:57):
that.
but I suppose it's, it's, it's,it's, yeah, I suppose that was
kind of, I suppose my, uh, startof my life was I was born with
that as a congenital visionimpairment.
Um, and then, um, I always waslike absolutely mad into sports
and particularly I absolutelylove soccer.
(03:20):
Fantastic.
But as well, we'd be a very, Isuppose our household, my mom
and dad were quite young parentsand both played lots of sport
growing up themselves and werebig about it as a key part
within our household.
(03:40):
And I think, I suppose, growingup, I found initially some of
the team sports quitechallenging.
And it was hard, I suppose.
You're trying to keep up withyour peers as they start to
progress and maybe theirfundamental movements because
they're getting a bit ahead ofyours and their skill
(04:02):
development and things.
And it can be a little bitchallenging.
But I suppose, particularly forme, I had two things that I
think really helped me.
One was I had a local club thatput a lot of time into me and
helped me with developing myfundamental movement skills,
particularly on skipping andhopping and jumping and running.
(04:25):
And then I suppose the otherpart was from my father.
He was a soccer coach and got meinto doing my soccer coaching
badges from a young age.
And I started coaching my clubteams at home in Mayo.
And
SPEAKER_00 (04:44):
what age would you have been when you were doing
that?
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
I was probably about maybe 15 or 16.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Oh, fantastic.
And at that point then, were youstill able to play soccer in a
regular team or...?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
I was still playing.
Not...
like just kind of recreationallyit was on like kind of local
teams and stuff like that andplay a lot of kind of five sides
indoors especially because itwas that bit easier with the
lack of glare and lack of lightoutdoors but I suppose it yeah
it was it was it was that waskind of a big part for me in
(05:18):
that I think that level ofunderstanding what I was
actually supposed to be doingand the spaces that needed to be
between me and other players andthings like that in my position.
SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
What position did you play?
I
SPEAKER_02 (05:33):
played as a defensive midfielder.
Not
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
that I know what that means, but you know, people
listening may have a goodunderstanding of soccer.
SPEAKER_02 (05:42):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (05:43):
Did you find that other team members had to be
more aware of your, you know,obviously you had to know where
you needed to be in order toreceive the ball or whatever,
but did they have to be aware aswell in order to yeah
SPEAKER_02 (05:54):
I think there was a bit of understanding there I
suppose as well too it was Iwould always ask I suppose I was
very upfront about you know thatI didn't have the best level of
vision but I would always askthat to give me a shout or give
me a call call my name or thenumber before the ball came to
me just gives me that extra kindof in case I missed it that the
(06:17):
pass it was coming towards methat I had that I suppose extra
cue and everyone around room wasalways fantastic with it and
like um i was lucky enough i wasable to continue I played all
the way up through college.
I eventually went on to do, Isuppose, initially my undergrad
was in sports science andexercise physiology at Lone in
(06:39):
Technological University ofShannon.
And I played soccer all throughthat time there and continued
coaching, started doing coachingbadges in the GA as well at the
time.
And I think all of that kind ofstuff was what kind of instilled
that love for it for me and likeI think those whether it be the
(07:00):
fact that I got the you knowthat early kind of piece of um
engagement and development someof my fundamental movement
skills to help me and also thatkind of understanding piece that
gave me then the confidence tobe able to um continue to stay
involved and stay playing soccerand um I suppose that was a
(07:21):
massive piece for me.
I continue to still play, Isuppose, recreational level
soccer every now and again.
And I'm also a coach withShelburne.
So I coach under 12s and under16s.
And I'm also a certain conditionand performance coach with the
(07:41):
League of Ireland teams for theunder 17s and under 19s.
Wow.
So...
I love it and I love theengagement that I get to have
with it.
I suppose a big part of then, Isuppose.
That was, I suppose, the lovefor it and that was always a big
part of it.
And then also the piece of, youknow, how do I find my way with
(08:05):
that piece of having a visionimpairment in sport and how do I
get myself to a point where Ican be best involved and staying
active and getting all theamazing benefits that you get
from sport and physicalactivity.
I think one of the biggestthings for me as well whilst I
was in college was the GerardByrne Award from the NCBI.
(08:27):
So I was lucky enough to be oneof the recipients of that award
for my final two years.
So third and fourth year when Iwas in college.
And I suppose it was throughthat that I met some of the guys
that work with Vision Ireland.
(08:47):
I met Kevin Kelly initially forthe first time there.
And I met Chris White and AaronMilanoff and Christina Miller.
And I think, you know, they weremassive for me, I suppose.
And it was me seeing like, thisis what I'm doing in sport and
continue on.
(09:08):
And when I came out of college,And I was literally, I suppose,
looking to get involved insomething in sport.
Christina was one of the firstpeople that I messaged.
And she connected me withPadraig Healy, who is the
National Sports DevelopmentManager with Vision Sports
Ireland, who I'm lucky enough tobe involved with now, I think.
(09:29):
That initial introduction wasgreat and, you know, I was lucky
enough, I came on, I suppose,the board initially as a
research assistant.
I then came on on, I suppose,like a graduate kind of basis
then for another year afterthat.
Yeah.
And then progressed to now havethe role as physical activity
(09:52):
coordinator with them.
SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (09:54):
And I think that's something I'm obviously really,
really passionate about.
I suppose in our house alone,there's five kids and three of
them have vision impairments,two of them don't have vision
impairments.
And so it was a busy household.
SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Yeah, it would have been, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
It was, you know, something that obviously helping
and trying to improve the livesof people with vision
impairments is something thatI'm obviously really passionate
about.
And I think sport and physicalactivity is one of the ways in
which we can do that I thinkthat's what kind of led me to
this point here of working withVision Sports and I hope that
(10:35):
answered the question I think
SPEAKER_00 (10:37):
No absolutely brilliant I mean it's an amazing
story and I think it really doesyou know help to highlight that
you know with the right supportsand the right sort of level of
understanding and coaching youknow it is possible for people
with you know because that levelof sighting is very limited sort
of similar to the level I wouldhave by the sounds of it and
(10:57):
it's great to hear that you knowI guess because your maybe
because your dad was involvedand with those connections that
probably was very helpful butthat if that's possible for you
it's possible for other peopleyou know and I know that's what
Vision Sports Ireland is reallyworking to do is to make that
possible for everybody and youknow which is so amazing so as
(11:22):
you were saying you knowyourself and myself actually
both have what we callcongenital sight loss which is
you know we've had it sincebirth.
Whereas part of your researchthat you're doing, so you're
coaching and you're working fulltime and you're also doing a
master's degree.
So you're kind of a bit of abusy beaver, really.
SPEAKER_02 (11:39):
Yeah, I love to keep myself busy.
SPEAKER_00 (11:42):
So tell us a bit about the research that you're
doing as part of that degree.
SPEAKER_02 (11:47):
Yeah, so I suppose I made a decision last year that I
was going to go back and look ata interested in, I suppose,
learning more about the areathat I had been working in.
I had came from, I suppose, as Isaid, that work in a sports
(12:09):
science, exercise physiologykind of background and maybe
knew more when it came to, Isuppose, elite sports and
testing and how to make thebody, you know, as high
performing as possible.
possible and how all those kindsof parts can play into it.
(12:33):
I suppose I wasn't as upskilledin the research that was out
there around vision impairmentand around I suppose, activity
levels and engagement in sportactivity.
So I went back and I decidedthis was something I was going
to pursue.
As part of that, I looked intolots of different masters and I
(12:56):
landed on one, which was theMasters in Elite Sport
Performance in DCU.
And I suppose the name of thatmight sound like it's still
elite performance sport, butit's really not.
I suppose it's about, and theway that the course coordinators
(13:16):
and lecturers would speak aboutit is it's about being, you
know, finding the elite level inyour specific domain.
SPEAKER_00 (13:25):
So is it kind of like sort of saying how to find
your best?
So whatever level your bestwould be, it's about finding
that, is it?
Some people are going to be ableto be professionals, but most of
us are just going to be amateursdoing what we want.
And is it about kind of enablingeveryone to reach their
potential, I suppose?
SPEAKER_02 (13:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I suppose it's about gettingto an elite level of
understanding in your specificfield.
So I suppose with me, it'd bethat...
trying to understand as best aspossible which where the current
research is um what uh are thebarriers and facilitators and
(14:07):
what are the i suppose currentmodels that have existed um
either in mainstream populationsand disability populations or in
other countries have been triedspecifically within vision
impairment okay um i suppose onepiece within that then that I
was particularly interested inand was something I suppose I
(14:28):
think it was something thatstruck me when I came into
vision sports firstly I like tosay you know I came in and I
thought you know I have visionimpairment and I'm big into
sports and I know loads aboutthis and I'm definitely not
afraid to say I knew absolutelynothing but which you know it
(14:48):
was a lot of learning at thebeginning and one thing I
suppose that particularly struckme was around people with
acquired vision impairments andit something I was very
fascinated by, particularlyaround their engagement with
sport and physical activity.
So that's what I've decided tolook at.
I decided
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
to look at...
So just to clarify for people,acquired is where people have,
as it says in the name, got avision impairment at a later
stage in life.
So not born with it, really.
SPEAKER_02 (15:16):
Yeah, that's correct.
And that might be, you know, anumber of different conditions.
That may have onset later andcould be anywhere.
From young age.
All the way up into.
Kind of older adult populations.
And I suppose.
As part of that, so I kind ofwent into this piece of.
(15:39):
Experiences and perceptions ofpeople with acquired vision
impairments engaged in sport andphysical activity.
And I looked at that kind ofparticularly from a lens of a.
of a concept called physicalliteracy.
And I suppose physical literacyin Ireland, we're lucky enough
(16:02):
that we have our own consensusstatement around physical
literacy, which is one of thefirst countries in the world to
have it.
And I suppose what itessentially is, is it's kind of
three main areas.
It's the physical competence,which is, I suppose, the ability
(16:23):
to perform a skill, whether itbe a hop, jump, throw, skip.
It's the motivation andconfidence to be able to do that
skill.
SPEAKER_00 (16:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:33):
And then it's also the knowledge and understanding.
So it's how all of those kind ofthree areas that motivation,
confidence, knowledge,understanding and physical
competence come together to makesomeone successful.
be able to effectively perform askill or an action or get
involved in sport and physicalactivity.
(16:54):
And I found that fascinating.
I just think it resonated somuch with me from my experiences
from a young age, like thatpiece where I said, you know, I
kind of got a little bit of helpin terms of my fundamental
movement skills and helpeddevelop them at a young age.
I think that was the competencepiece.
I think the coaching andengagement in sport was that
(17:18):
understanding piece anddefinitely continuing on then
into the education and researchside of it.
And then also, I think, well, Ithink maybe the motivation and
confidence might have been theone for me that never really
thought that I was always maybemaybe overconfident and thinking
we're doing these things.
(17:39):
But yeah, I think I think that'swhy I was so I think that's why
I was so interested in that areaof study.
I think that's something thathas been used to great success
in recent years in mainstreampopulations and other disability
populations, but maybe isn'tlooked at as strongly in terms
of the blind and vision impairedpopulations.
(18:02):
So I suppose we're right in themiddle of it at the moment.
So I can't make any assumptions
SPEAKER_00 (18:09):
yet.
No, you can't tell us what thefindings are yet.
No.
because I'm curious yeah tothink you know because I'm just
in my own mind I'm thinking youknow presumably you know someone
might have had good physicalliteracy before they lost their
sight and then you know that'skind of all gone maybe or other
people who maybe weren't sportyat all and then you know lose
(18:32):
their sight and maybe trying tofind things to do and get back
in and then do sport you know soI suppose it's maybe going to be
different isn't it for differentpeople
SPEAKER_02 (18:40):
exactly and I suppose it's so often
fascinating I suppose just tosee you know especially at that
point of diagnosis for someonewho is losing their vision I
suppose one of the key parts I'mtrying to see is you know is it
that piece of knowledge andunderstanding is lacking in
terms of what we can engage within terms of maybe it's different
(19:02):
adapted sports maybe it'sgetting ourselves on a pathway
where we get into a visionsports program and then move
into a mainstream program maybeit's or maybe it's motivation,
confidence, and maybe because ofthe vision loss, it's something
that we then struggle with.
Maybe it's purely a skill pieceand it's physical competence,
but whatever it comes back andwhatever we look to move forward
(19:28):
with across the next, I suppose,coming years, it's going to be
fascinating and it's somethingthat I hope we can use the
research to really help inform,I suppose, where we go school as
an organization and.
hopefully where we can help asmany people as possible with who
(19:51):
are blind or vision impaired andget involved in sport and
physical activity.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
Because, you know, we're alwaysbeing told and it's, you know,
well known that the benefits ofsort of daily activity, you
know, whether that be physicallybenefits, but also the emotional
and mental health benefits aswell, I think are so powerful,
aren't they?
And I think it's just soimportant to give people that
opportunity to be part of thatenergy you say knowledge is is
(20:19):
so important because if peopledon't know what's available then
they can't partake of it so youknow it's going to be a key
thing i was kind of interestedin you know some people might
have been involved in one sportand i know speaking to somebody
i can't remember who it was butthey had been say i don't know
whether it was tennis orsomething and they'd play tennis
as a sighted person but then youknow even though there is
(20:39):
adaptive tennis they didn't wantto do it you know because they
had been good at it as a sightedperson it was something that
they didn't want to do you know,in a different way, having lost
their sight.
But then for other people, theymight want to still be able to
do the sport they love.
But I suppose it's maybe forthat person or for other people
trying to sort of identify othersports.
(21:00):
It might be, you know, thechance to try something new,
which I think is interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (21:07):
Absolutely.
I like, they're so...
you know, I suppose there's somany different sports out there
and everyone has, like, in ourhouse alone at home, you know,
there's five kids, everyone isinto something different,
whether it be soccer or rugby orGaelic or rowing or athletics.
(21:28):
Everyone is into somethingdifferent.
And, you know, so often, Isuppose, we can have that bit of
a fear of, I suppose, what is itgoing to be like going back now
that that I have less vision orno vision.
And I suppose that is a piece ofthe motivation and confidence
(21:50):
and something that we will lookto challenge as time goes on in
terms of, I suppose, increasingpeople's motivation, confidence
or knowledge and strength orwhatever that may happen to be.
Like I know as well, when youmentioned a moment ago about
(22:11):
like you know how important itis for us all to be I suppose
physically active and engaginglike the numbers currently for
people who are blind or visionimpaired are quite low I know
it's one in ten adults who areblind or vision impaired and one
(22:31):
in five children that aremeeting our well the World
Health Organization's physicalactivity guidelines and like
that's leaving them at a greaterrisk of poor health or reduced
motor skills or you know socialisolation and like there's so
many parts to come with sportand physical activity
SPEAKER_00 (22:52):
um yeah
SPEAKER_02 (22:53):
and you know we want to see those numbers improve we
want to you know make these asthe bridges and the and the
pathways to people being able todo that
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
yeah absolutely and i know you know you're doing
fantastic work there in visionsports with all of the different
kind of avenues that you'refollowing really to make that
possible whether it be throughthe kind of you know adapted um
sports you know such as you knowthe blind tennis or um i was
going to say golf but she isn'twell it's kind of adapted but
not adapted isn't it you knowyou're still playing golf the
(23:26):
same way but you just maybe needa bit of support
SPEAKER_02 (23:29):
yeah it's having that guide and like there's so
there's so many different partsthat um go into like every every
sport is going to be differentin terms of what someone who is
blind vision impaired requiresand needs and you know we're
lucky enough to envision sportsthat we have you know some
fantastic collaborations withlots of different national
(23:50):
government bodies so whether itbe the FAI and our blind
football and kind of visionimpaired soccer or futsal groups
or whether it be Golf Irelandwho you know are out and helping
us set up different programs anddifferent resources currently
(24:13):
for sighted guides and peoplegetting out and getting into
golf or whether it's you know ortennis or swimming or athletics
these are all you know differentadaptations in every one but
it's made possible I supposeboth by all of my colleagues in
(24:33):
vision sports but also all ofthe different people that we
collaborate with in thosenational governor bodies and
local sports partnerships and umall those different groups and
even um there's a particularlygreat hub down in port leash and
it's all made possible by thevip hub down there and their
(24:54):
coordinator tracy percy who'sfantastic as well
SPEAKER_00 (24:57):
yes i'm always seeing stuff on your newsletter
and portly i should be in portleash as well as going
SPEAKER_02 (25:02):
on there yeah yeah
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
i'm gonna get some of that where i am
SPEAKER_02 (25:05):
it's it's it's the it's the first of its kind um i
So it is that hub model andTracy is fantastic.
And I suppose we have such agreat array of different sports
available down there as aresult.
And I suppose that's part of acollaboration with ourselves,
(25:26):
all the governing bodies, localsports partnership down there in
Leash and that VIP hub.
And Tracy initially was just avolunteer who gave up so much
time and put so much work workinto you know establishing and
like you know we'd love to we'dlove to have more you know we
(25:47):
try and run programs all acrossthe country and me as a proud
man from the west in Mayo it'sgreat like I want to see
programs all across the countrybut it's I suppose how can we
embed them and get people in thedifferent clubs that are already
existing out there to take partbecome a skill with the
(26:10):
knowledge and understanding tohow to coach and work with
someone who is blind or visionimpaired to be able to go out
and you know establish themprograms in their counties and
in their countries like um youknow i know the tennis is um
loads of different programs allacross the country and um
similar with the we've lots ofswimming programs all across the
country but um we're we'reslowly i suppose getting buy-in
(26:34):
from all those different coachesand getting them upskilled and
hopefully that will continue umparticularly with our new
upcoming strategic plan andstrategic cycle, I think it's
going to be great and we'll beable to push towards getting
people upskilled in theircommunities and hopefully
getting more people into sportand physical activity.
SPEAKER_00 (26:56):
Absolutely.
It'll be exciting to see whatthe future holds.
And as you say, there's so muchgoing on already, but you can
only improve.
It is fantastic, all the workthat you're doing there.
Just, I suppose, going back tothe research, your survey, you
basically are doing a surveytrying to get sort of
information, I suppose, frompeople with acquired, you know,
(27:18):
blindness or vision impairment.
And that survey is still open, Ibelieve, is it?
SPEAKER_02 (27:22):
It is still open, yeah.
So I suppose we're going to, ourplan with the survey, it's the
first part of a two-part pieceof research.
So we're initially going to workwith the survey and our The aim
is to try and get as close to100 participants in that survey
(27:42):
as possible.
I'm currently at 43, so we're asmany as possible that are
listening today.
Yes, come on people,
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
finish your survey.
And how could people do that?
How can people access the surveyif they want to complete it?
SPEAKER_02 (28:00):
So it's available on our website currently.
It also goes out in ournewsletter and across our
socials if you're following anydivision sports.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
and your website would be what?
Vision, is it, what is it?
Vision Sports?
SPEAKER_02 (28:22):
VisionSports.ie.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
VisionSports.ie.
That's correct.
Yeah, so VisionSports.ie.
It's nice and easy to remember,hopefully, that one.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
and it's in there.
It's under the News and Eventstab, and it's under, you can
click on it in under News, andit comes up there for you.
As well, I suppose, if anyone ishere and they are interested,
and you're looking for the link,or you haven't...
been able to find it.
My email address is sean.moylesat visionsports.ie and the
(28:55):
Moyles is M-O-Y-L-E-S.
So anyone that wants to emailme, I'm absolutely more than
happy to answer any questions orsend across links or, you know,
send you any information thatyou'd like about it.
Or, you know, if you're maybenot sure if you're eligible or
at the dash, I suppose it's opento adults aged 18 to 64 is one
(29:18):
key piece for it.
and it's for acquired visionimpairments.
So that's that.
any kind of condition which hasonset at a certain point,
whether that be a childhood,teenage years or adulthood, or
as we age into older adult ages,that 18 to 64.
(29:39):
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (29:40):
fantastic.
So hopefully now we're going toget loads now of new responses
following this amazing chat thatwe've had.
And, you know, I think whenpeople can really hear the kind
of difference it can make,because it's going to give you
the information, hopefully, tomake it, you know, more improved
in in you know access to gettingpeople out there and moving
(30:00):
which is what we want um so youknow please do do do complete
that survey if you if you can iwould complete it but i can't
sorry i don't qualify yeah um soyeah you know over to over to
everybody else but also you knowjust if people are on the
website and they can also signup for your you know newsletter
(30:21):
and all of those things becauseagain information is power
SPEAKER_02 (30:23):
yeah 100% So I suppose if you are interested in
that, I suppose the first thingI would say to you is on our
homepage, we have a Become aMember button.
If you sign up to become amember, you can click to be
added to the newsletter.
And then it's also, if there's abar across the top, you can
(30:43):
click Support Us.
And under there, there's alsoanother button to become a
member.
Either way, it'll bring youthere, but it's just...
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
And becoming a member is free, isn't it?
There's no charge or anything.
SPEAKER_02 (30:53):
Absolutely free, yeah.
No charge, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
Yeah, so...
good we always like three youknow that's always good
SPEAKER_02 (30:58):
yeah 100% but I suppose it just means you get
the information and I suppose bekept in the loop about what
we're doing and what's happeningin the all across the country of
Ireland for that month
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
oh fantastic no that's brilliant thank you so
much Sean it's been sointeresting talking to you today
really fascinating to hear aboutyou know all your sporting
abilities and achievements it'swonderful and you know you're
doing fantastic work there witheverything you're doing in
Vision Sports Ireland so thankyou so much really do appreciate
it well that's us for today butif you know you want to
(31:33):
obviously we mentioned thevisionsports.ie website there
but if you want any support oranything from Vision Ireland you
can always log on to our websitewhich is www.vi.ie or you can
call our information line at1-800-911-250 lovely chat to Bye
(31:56):
everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (32:02):
Thanks for listening to Advocacy Talks.
To get in touch with ouradvocacy team, send us an email
to campaigns at vi.ie or why notjoin one of our local advocacy
networks where you can worktogether with others to solve
some of the biggest problemsfacing blind and partially
sighted people in Ireland.
Thanks for listening and see younext time.
Welcome to Advocacy Talks, a podcast from the
advocacy team at Vision Ireland.
Here's what's coming up on thisepisode.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
And now, here's Madeleine
SPEAKER_01 (00:43):
McNamara.
SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
Hello everybody and welcome to Vision Island's
Advocacy Talks.
It's Madeleine here again andthank you so much for joining me
today.
In our last episode we werehighlighting our campaign called
Clear Our Paths which is aboutraising awareness of the
temporary obstacles on ourfootpaths and I spoke to the
wonderful Deirdre and Roisin whoare service users with Vision
(01:09):
Island and they did a great jobof kind of highlighting the
challenges that temporaryobstacles on our footpaths pose.
So if you did miss that, pleasedo listen back.
It's really well worth a listen.
Well, today we're going to betalking all about sport and
particularly about people whohave acquired vision loss and
(01:29):
their access to sport and howthey engage with that.
And to help me discuss that, I'mjoined by Sean Moyles, who is
the Physical ActivityCoordinator with Vision Sports
Ireland.
And just in case he isn't busyenough doing that, he's also
undertaking a Master's degreeand we're going to talk about
the research that he's doing aspart of that.
(01:50):
So hello Sean and welcome somuch to Advocacy Talks.
SPEAKER_02 (01:53):
Thanks so much Madeleine, really looking
forward to our chat and yeahit's great to be on.
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
Oh you're very welcome, really good to have you
on the show and really just tokick off I just thought maybe
you might tell us a little bitabout yourself and how you ended
up working in Vision Sports.
SPEAKER_02 (02:13):
Yeah, so.
I suppose a bit of background tomyself.
So I have a vision impairmentmyself.
I have albinism and also havenystagmus with that.
I would say I suppose I havequite a useful level of vision,
(02:35):
but I suppose it's.
My sensitivity, particularlywith glare and light outdoors,
would be quite challenging.
And then obviously with the kindof fine detail in the distance.
I don't know, for example, on achart, maybe I'd get three lines
or something like that, but Iwouldn't be getting much past
(02:57):
that.
but I suppose it's, it's, it's,it's, yeah, I suppose that was
kind of, I suppose my, uh, startof my life was I was born with
that as a congenital visionimpairment.
Um, and then, um, I always waslike absolutely mad into sports
and particularly I absolutelylove soccer.
(03:20):
Fantastic.
But as well, we'd be a very, Isuppose our household, my mom
and dad were quite young parentsand both played lots of sport
growing up themselves and werebig about it as a key part
within our household.
(03:40):
And I think, I suppose, growingup, I found initially some of
the team sports quitechallenging.
And it was hard, I suppose.
You're trying to keep up withyour peers as they start to
progress and maybe theirfundamental movements because
they're getting a bit ahead ofyours and their skill
(04:02):
development and things.
And it can be a little bitchallenging.
But I suppose, particularly forme, I had two things that I
think really helped me.
One was I had a local club thatput a lot of time into me and
helped me with developing myfundamental movement skills,
particularly on skipping andhopping and jumping and running.
(04:25):
And then I suppose the otherpart was from my father.
He was a soccer coach and got meinto doing my soccer coaching
badges from a young age.
And I started coaching my clubteams at home in Mayo.
And
SPEAKER_00 (04:44):
what age would you have been when you were doing
that?
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
I was probably about maybe 15 or 16.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Oh, fantastic.
And at that point then, were youstill able to play soccer in a
regular team or...?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (04:56):
I was still playing.
Not...
like just kind of recreationallyit was on like kind of local
teams and stuff like that andplay a lot of kind of five sides
indoors especially because itwas that bit easier with the
lack of glare and lack of lightoutdoors but I suppose it yeah
it was it was it was that waskind of a big part for me in
(05:18):
that I think that level ofunderstanding what I was
actually supposed to be doingand the spaces that needed to be
between me and other players andthings like that in my position.
SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
What position did you play?
I
SPEAKER_02 (05:33):
played as a defensive midfielder.
Not
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
that I know what that means, but you know, people
listening may have a goodunderstanding of soccer.
SPEAKER_02 (05:42):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (05:43):
Did you find that other team members had to be
more aware of your, you know,obviously you had to know where
you needed to be in order toreceive the ball or whatever,
but did they have to be aware aswell in order to yeah
SPEAKER_02 (05:54):
I think there was a bit of understanding there I
suppose as well too it was Iwould always ask I suppose I was
very upfront about you know thatI didn't have the best level of
vision but I would always askthat to give me a shout or give
me a call call my name or thenumber before the ball came to
me just gives me that extra kindof in case I missed it that the
(06:17):
pass it was coming towards methat I had that I suppose extra
cue and everyone around room wasalways fantastic with it and
like um i was lucky enough i wasable to continue I played all
the way up through college.
I eventually went on to do, Isuppose, initially my undergrad
was in sports science andexercise physiology at Lone in
(06:39):
Technological University ofShannon.
And I played soccer all throughthat time there and continued
coaching, started doing coachingbadges in the GA as well at the
time.
And I think all of that kind ofstuff was what kind of instilled
that love for it for me and likeI think those whether it be the
(07:00):
fact that I got the you knowthat early kind of piece of um
engagement and development someof my fundamental movement
skills to help me and also thatkind of understanding piece that
gave me then the confidence tobe able to um continue to stay
involved and stay playing soccerand um I suppose that was a
(07:21):
massive piece for me.
I continue to still play, Isuppose, recreational level
soccer every now and again.
And I'm also a coach withShelburne.
So I coach under 12s and under16s.
And I'm also a certain conditionand performance coach with the
(07:41):
League of Ireland teams for theunder 17s and under 19s.
Wow.
So...
I love it and I love theengagement that I get to have
with it.
I suppose a big part of then, Isuppose.
That was, I suppose, the lovefor it and that was always a big
part of it.
And then also the piece of, youknow, how do I find my way with
(08:05):
that piece of having a visionimpairment in sport and how do I
get myself to a point where Ican be best involved and staying
active and getting all theamazing benefits that you get
from sport and physicalactivity.
I think one of the biggestthings for me as well whilst I
was in college was the GerardByrne Award from the NCBI.
(08:27):
So I was lucky enough to be oneof the recipients of that award
for my final two years.
So third and fourth year when Iwas in college.
And I suppose it was throughthat that I met some of the guys
that work with Vision Ireland.
(08:47):
I met Kevin Kelly initially forthe first time there.
And I met Chris White and AaronMilanoff and Christina Miller.
And I think, you know, they weremassive for me, I suppose.
And it was me seeing like, thisis what I'm doing in sport and
continue on.
(09:08):
And when I came out of college,And I was literally, I suppose,
looking to get involved insomething in sport.
Christina was one of the firstpeople that I messaged.
And she connected me withPadraig Healy, who is the
National Sports DevelopmentManager with Vision Sports
Ireland, who I'm lucky enough tobe involved with now, I think.
(09:29):
That initial introduction wasgreat and, you know, I was lucky
enough, I came on, I suppose,the board initially as a
research assistant.
I then came on on, I suppose,like a graduate kind of basis
then for another year afterthat.
Yeah.
And then progressed to now havethe role as physical activity
(09:52):
coordinator with them.
SPEAKER_00 (09:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (09:54):
And I think that's something I'm obviously really,
really passionate about.
I suppose in our house alone,there's five kids and three of
them have vision impairments,two of them don't have vision
impairments.
And so it was a busy household.
SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Yeah, it would have been, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
It was, you know, something that obviously helping
and trying to improve the livesof people with vision
impairments is something thatI'm obviously really passionate
about.
And I think sport and physicalactivity is one of the ways in
which we can do that I thinkthat's what kind of led me to
this point here of working withVision Sports and I hope that
(10:35):
answered the question I think
SPEAKER_00 (10:37):
No absolutely brilliant I mean it's an amazing
story and I think it really doesyou know help to highlight that
you know with the right supportsand the right sort of level of
understanding and coaching youknow it is possible for people
with you know because that levelof sighting is very limited sort
of similar to the level I wouldhave by the sounds of it and
(10:57):
it's great to hear that you knowI guess because your maybe
because your dad was involvedand with those connections that
probably was very helpful butthat if that's possible for you
it's possible for other peopleyou know and I know that's what
Vision Sports Ireland is reallyworking to do is to make that
possible for everybody and youknow which is so amazing so as
(11:22):
you were saying you knowyourself and myself actually
both have what we callcongenital sight loss which is
you know we've had it sincebirth.
Whereas part of your researchthat you're doing, so you're
coaching and you're working fulltime and you're also doing a
master's degree.
So you're kind of a bit of abusy beaver, really.
SPEAKER_02 (11:39):
Yeah, I love to keep myself busy.
SPEAKER_00 (11:42):
So tell us a bit about the research that you're
doing as part of that degree.
SPEAKER_02 (11:47):
Yeah, so I suppose I made a decision last year that I
was going to go back and look ata interested in, I suppose,
learning more about the areathat I had been working in.
I had came from, I suppose, as Isaid, that work in a sports
(12:09):
science, exercise physiologykind of background and maybe
knew more when it came to, Isuppose, elite sports and
testing and how to make thebody, you know, as high
performing as possible.
possible and how all those kindsof parts can play into it.
(12:33):
I suppose I wasn't as upskilledin the research that was out
there around vision impairmentand around I suppose, activity
levels and engagement in sportactivity.
So I went back and I decidedthis was something I was going
to pursue.
As part of that, I looked intolots of different masters and I
(12:56):
landed on one, which was theMasters in Elite Sport
Performance in DCU.
And I suppose the name of thatmight sound like it's still
elite performance sport, butit's really not.
I suppose it's about, and theway that the course coordinators
(13:16):
and lecturers would speak aboutit is it's about being, you
know, finding the elite level inyour specific domain.
SPEAKER_00 (13:25):
So is it kind of like sort of saying how to find
your best?
So whatever level your bestwould be, it's about finding
that, is it?
Some people are going to be ableto be professionals, but most of
us are just going to be amateursdoing what we want.
And is it about kind of enablingeveryone to reach their
potential, I suppose?
SPEAKER_02 (13:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I suppose it's about gettingto an elite level of
understanding in your specificfield.
So I suppose with me, it'd bethat...
trying to understand as best aspossible which where the current
research is um what uh are thebarriers and facilitators and
(14:07):
what are the i suppose currentmodels that have existed um
either in mainstream populationsand disability populations or in
other countries have been triedspecifically within vision
impairment okay um i suppose onepiece within that then that I
was particularly interested inand was something I suppose I
(14:28):
think it was something thatstruck me when I came into
vision sports firstly I like tosay you know I came in and I
thought you know I have visionimpairment and I'm big into
sports and I know loads aboutthis and I'm definitely not
afraid to say I knew absolutelynothing but which you know it
(14:48):
was a lot of learning at thebeginning and one thing I
suppose that particularly struckme was around people with
acquired vision impairments andit something I was very
fascinated by, particularlyaround their engagement with
sport and physical activity.
So that's what I've decided tolook at.
I decided
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
to look at...
So just to clarify for people,acquired is where people have,
as it says in the name, got avision impairment at a later
stage in life.
So not born with it, really.
SPEAKER_02 (15:16):
Yeah, that's correct.
And that might be, you know, anumber of different conditions.
That may have onset later andcould be anywhere.
From young age.
All the way up into.
Kind of older adult populations.
And I suppose.
As part of that, so I kind ofwent into this piece of.
(15:39):
Experiences and perceptions ofpeople with acquired vision
impairments engaged in sport andphysical activity.
And I looked at that kind ofparticularly from a lens of a.
of a concept called physicalliteracy.
And I suppose physical literacyin Ireland, we're lucky enough
(16:02):
that we have our own consensusstatement around physical
literacy, which is one of thefirst countries in the world to
have it.
And I suppose what itessentially is, is it's kind of
three main areas.
It's the physical competence,which is, I suppose, the ability
(16:23):
to perform a skill, whether itbe a hop, jump, throw, skip.
It's the motivation andconfidence to be able to do that
skill.
SPEAKER_00 (16:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (16:33):
And then it's also the knowledge and understanding.
So it's how all of those kind ofthree areas that motivation,
confidence, knowledge,understanding and physical
competence come together to makesomeone successful.
be able to effectively perform askill or an action or get
involved in sport and physicalactivity.
(16:54):
And I found that fascinating.
I just think it resonated somuch with me from my experiences
from a young age, like thatpiece where I said, you know, I
kind of got a little bit of helpin terms of my fundamental
movement skills and helpeddevelop them at a young age.
I think that was the competencepiece.
I think the coaching andengagement in sport was that
(17:18):
understanding piece anddefinitely continuing on then
into the education and researchside of it.
And then also, I think, well, Ithink maybe the motivation and
confidence might have been theone for me that never really
thought that I was always maybemaybe overconfident and thinking
we're doing these things.
(17:39):
But yeah, I think I think that'swhy I was so I think that's why
I was so interested in that areaof study.
I think that's something thathas been used to great success
in recent years in mainstreampopulations and other disability
populations, but maybe isn'tlooked at as strongly in terms
of the blind and vision impairedpopulations.
(18:02):
So I suppose we're right in themiddle of it at the moment.
So I can't make any assumptions
SPEAKER_00 (18:09):
yet.
No, you can't tell us what thefindings are yet.
No.
because I'm curious yeah tothink you know because I'm just
in my own mind I'm thinking youknow presumably you know someone
might have had good physicalliteracy before they lost their
sight and then you know that'skind of all gone maybe or other
people who maybe weren't sportyat all and then you know lose
(18:32):
their sight and maybe trying tofind things to do and get back
in and then do sport you know soI suppose it's maybe going to be
different isn't it for differentpeople
SPEAKER_02 (18:40):
exactly and I suppose it's so often
fascinating I suppose just tosee you know especially at that
point of diagnosis for someonewho is losing their vision I
suppose one of the key parts I'mtrying to see is you know is it
that piece of knowledge andunderstanding is lacking in
terms of what we can engage within terms of maybe it's different
(19:02):
adapted sports maybe it'sgetting ourselves on a pathway
where we get into a visionsports program and then move
into a mainstream program maybeit's or maybe it's motivation,
confidence, and maybe because ofthe vision loss, it's something
that we then struggle with.
Maybe it's purely a skill pieceand it's physical competence,
but whatever it comes back andwhatever we look to move forward
(19:28):
with across the next, I suppose,coming years, it's going to be
fascinating and it's somethingthat I hope we can use the
research to really help inform,I suppose, where we go school as
an organization and.
hopefully where we can help asmany people as possible with who
(19:51):
are blind or vision impaired andget involved in sport and
physical activity.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Yeah, absolutely.
Because, you know, we're alwaysbeing told and it's, you know,
well known that the benefits ofsort of daily activity, you
know, whether that be physicallybenefits, but also the emotional
and mental health benefits aswell, I think are so powerful,
aren't they?
And I think it's just soimportant to give people that
opportunity to be part of thatenergy you say knowledge is is
(20:19):
so important because if peopledon't know what's available then
they can't partake of it so youknow it's going to be a key
thing i was kind of interestedin you know some people might
have been involved in one sportand i know speaking to somebody
i can't remember who it was butthey had been say i don't know
whether it was tennis orsomething and they'd play tennis
as a sighted person but then youknow even though there is
(20:39):
adaptive tennis they didn't wantto do it you know because they
had been good at it as a sightedperson it was something that
they didn't want to do you know,in a different way, having lost
their sight.
But then for other people, theymight want to still be able to
do the sport they love.
But I suppose it's maybe forthat person or for other people
trying to sort of identify othersports.
(21:00):
It might be, you know, thechance to try something new,
which I think is interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (21:07):
Absolutely.
I like, they're so...
you know, I suppose there's somany different sports out there
and everyone has, like, in ourhouse alone at home, you know,
there's five kids, everyone isinto something different,
whether it be soccer or rugby orGaelic or rowing or athletics.
(21:28):
Everyone is into somethingdifferent.
And, you know, so often, Isuppose, we can have that bit of
a fear of, I suppose, what is itgoing to be like going back now
that that I have less vision orno vision.
And I suppose that is a piece ofthe motivation and confidence
(21:50):
and something that we will lookto challenge as time goes on in
terms of, I suppose, increasingpeople's motivation, confidence
or knowledge and strength orwhatever that may happen to be.
Like I know as well, when youmentioned a moment ago about
(22:11):
like you know how important itis for us all to be I suppose
physically active and engaginglike the numbers currently for
people who are blind or visionimpaired are quite low I know
it's one in ten adults who areblind or vision impaired and one
(22:31):
in five children that aremeeting our well the World
Health Organization's physicalactivity guidelines and like
that's leaving them at a greaterrisk of poor health or reduced
motor skills or you know socialisolation and like there's so
many parts to come with sportand physical activity
SPEAKER_00 (22:52):
um yeah
SPEAKER_02 (22:53):
and you know we want to see those numbers improve we
want to you know make these asthe bridges and the and the
pathways to people being able todo that
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
yeah absolutely and i know you know you're doing
fantastic work there in visionsports with all of the different
kind of avenues that you'refollowing really to make that
possible whether it be throughthe kind of you know adapted um
sports you know such as you knowthe blind tennis or um i was
going to say golf but she isn'twell it's kind of adapted but
not adapted isn't it you knowyou're still playing golf the
(23:26):
same way but you just maybe needa bit of support
SPEAKER_02 (23:29):
yeah it's having that guide and like there's so
there's so many different partsthat um go into like every every
sport is going to be differentin terms of what someone who is
blind vision impaired requiresand needs and you know we're
lucky enough to envision sportsthat we have you know some
fantastic collaborations withlots of different national
(23:50):
government bodies so whether itbe the FAI and our blind
football and kind of visionimpaired soccer or futsal groups
or whether it be Golf Irelandwho you know are out and helping
us set up different programs anddifferent resources currently
(24:13):
for sighted guides and peoplegetting out and getting into
golf or whether it's you know ortennis or swimming or athletics
these are all you know differentadaptations in every one but
it's made possible I supposeboth by all of my colleagues in
(24:33):
vision sports but also all ofthe different people that we
collaborate with in thosenational governor bodies and
local sports partnerships and umall those different groups and
even um there's a particularlygreat hub down in port leash and
it's all made possible by thevip hub down there and their
(24:54):
coordinator tracy percy who'sfantastic as well
SPEAKER_00 (24:57):
yes i'm always seeing stuff on your newsletter
and portly i should be in portleash as well as going
SPEAKER_02 (25:02):
on there yeah yeah
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
i'm gonna get some of that where i am
SPEAKER_02 (25:05):
it's it's it's the it's the first of its kind um i
So it is that hub model andTracy is fantastic.
And I suppose we have such agreat array of different sports
available down there as aresult.
And I suppose that's part of acollaboration with ourselves,
(25:26):
all the governing bodies, localsports partnership down there in
Leash and that VIP hub.
And Tracy initially was just avolunteer who gave up so much
time and put so much work workinto you know establishing and
like you know we'd love to we'dlove to have more you know we
(25:47):
try and run programs all acrossthe country and me as a proud
man from the west in Mayo it'sgreat like I want to see
programs all across the countrybut it's I suppose how can we
embed them and get people in thedifferent clubs that are already
existing out there to take partbecome a skill with the
(26:10):
knowledge and understanding tohow to coach and work with
someone who is blind or visionimpaired to be able to go out
and you know establish themprograms in their counties and
in their countries like um youknow i know the tennis is um
loads of different programs allacross the country and um
similar with the we've lots ofswimming programs all across the
country but um we're we'reslowly i suppose getting buy-in
(26:34):
from all those different coachesand getting them upskilled and
hopefully that will continue umparticularly with our new
upcoming strategic plan andstrategic cycle, I think it's
going to be great and we'll beable to push towards getting
people upskilled in theircommunities and hopefully
getting more people into sportand physical activity.
SPEAKER_00 (26:56):
Absolutely.
It'll be exciting to see whatthe future holds.
And as you say, there's so muchgoing on already, but you can
only improve.
It is fantastic, all the workthat you're doing there.
Just, I suppose, going back tothe research, your survey, you
basically are doing a surveytrying to get sort of
information, I suppose, frompeople with acquired, you know,
(27:18):
blindness or vision impairment.
And that survey is still open, Ibelieve, is it?
SPEAKER_02 (27:22):
It is still open, yeah.
So I suppose we're going to, ourplan with the survey, it's the
first part of a two-part pieceof research.
So we're initially going to workwith the survey and our The aim
is to try and get as close to100 participants in that survey
(27:42):
as possible.
I'm currently at 43, so we're asmany as possible that are
listening today.
Yes, come on people,
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
finish your survey.
And how could people do that?
How can people access the surveyif they want to complete it?
SPEAKER_02 (28:00):
So it's available on our website currently.
It also goes out in ournewsletter and across our
socials if you're following anydivision sports.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (28:18):
and your website would be what?
Vision, is it, what is it?
Vision Sports?
SPEAKER_02 (28:22):
VisionSports.ie.
SPEAKER_00 (28:24):
VisionSports.ie.
That's correct.
Yeah, so VisionSports.ie.
It's nice and easy to remember,hopefully, that one.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
and it's in there.
It's under the News and Eventstab, and it's under, you can
click on it in under News, andit comes up there for you.
As well, I suppose, if anyone ishere and they are interested,
and you're looking for the link,or you haven't...
been able to find it.
My email address is sean.moylesat visionsports.ie and the
(28:55):
Moyles is M-O-Y-L-E-S.
So anyone that wants to emailme, I'm absolutely more than
happy to answer any questions orsend across links or, you know,
send you any information thatyou'd like about it.
Or, you know, if you're maybenot sure if you're eligible or
at the dash, I suppose it's opento adults aged 18 to 64 is one
(29:18):
key piece for it.
and it's for acquired visionimpairments.
So that's that.
any kind of condition which hasonset at a certain point,
whether that be a childhood,teenage years or adulthood, or
as we age into older adult ages,that 18 to 64.
(29:39):
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (29:40):
fantastic.
So hopefully now we're going toget loads now of new responses
following this amazing chat thatwe've had.
And, you know, I think whenpeople can really hear the kind
of difference it can make,because it's going to give you
the information, hopefully, tomake it, you know, more improved
in in you know access to gettingpeople out there and moving
(30:00):
which is what we want um so youknow please do do do complete
that survey if you if you can iwould complete it but i can't
sorry i don't qualify yeah um soyeah you know over to over to
everybody else but also you knowjust if people are on the
website and they can also signup for your you know newsletter
(30:21):
and all of those things becauseagain information is power
SPEAKER_02 (30:23):
yeah 100% So I suppose if you are interested in
that, I suppose the first thingI would say to you is on our
homepage, we have a Become aMember button.
If you sign up to become amember, you can click to be
added to the newsletter.
And then it's also, if there's abar across the top, you can
(30:43):
click Support Us.
And under there, there's alsoanother button to become a
member.
Either way, it'll bring youthere, but it's just...
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
And becoming a member is free, isn't it?
There's no charge or anything.
SPEAKER_02 (30:53):
Absolutely free, yeah.
No charge, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
Yeah, so...
good we always like three youknow that's always good
SPEAKER_02 (30:58):
yeah 100% but I suppose it just means you get
the information and I suppose bekept in the loop about what
we're doing and what's happeningin the all across the country of
Ireland for that month
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
oh fantastic no that's brilliant thank you so
much Sean it's been sointeresting talking to you today
really fascinating to hear aboutyou know all your sporting
abilities and achievements it'swonderful and you know you're
doing fantastic work there witheverything you're doing in
Vision Sports Ireland so thankyou so much really do appreciate
it well that's us for today butif you know you want to
(31:33):
obviously we mentioned thevisionsports.ie website there
but if you want any support oranything from Vision Ireland you
can always log on to our websitewhich is www.vi.ie or you can
call our information line at1-800-911-250 lovely chat to Bye
(31:56):
everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (32:02):
Thanks for listening to Advocacy Talks.
To get in touch with ouradvocacy team, send us an email
to campaigns at vi.ie or why notjoin one of our local advocacy
networks where you can worktogether with others to solve
some of the biggest problemsfacing blind and partially
sighted people in Ireland.
Thanks for listening and see younext time.
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