Polaris Hosts PEPAYS Ireland Forum 2026
On Friday 12th June, the School of Health and Human Performance, in partnership with the School of Arts Education and Movement, welcomed researchers, teachers, policymakers and practitioners from across Ireland and beyond to DCU's Polaris Building for the PEPAYS Ireland Forum 2026. This year's theme, "Maximising Impact: Transforming Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport for Sustainable Development," set the tone for a day focused on turning research into real-world change.
The Forum was jointly organised by the School of Arts Education and Movement (PE Team), led by Dr Maura Coulter, and the School of Health and Human Performance, led by Dr Hannah Goss, reflecting the strong collaborative approach underpinning the event.
The programme featured over 35 presentations across seven parallel oral sessions, a series of lightning talks, and a symposium, with contributors from DCU, the University of Limerick, University College Cork, Munster Technological University, South East Technological University and international colleagues from Chile, Spain, China and further afield.
The breadth of work on show reflected the full scope of the field. Inclusion was a strong thread throughout the day, with research on the physical activity experiences of children who are blind or vision impaired (Lisa Flynn and colleagues), supports for students with intellectual disabilities in post-primary PE (Paidi Kelly, Frances Murphy and Joe Travers), teacher supports for pupils with visual impairment (Niamh Boylan and colleagues), and a football-centred programme for children with autism (Ellen Lavery and colleagues).
Sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals featured prominently, in keeping with the Forum theme. Prof Ann MacPhail presented the research agenda of the UNESCO Chair in Physical Education and Sports Pedagogy for Sustainable Development, awarded to the University of Limerick in 2024, alongside related mapping and scoping reviews from Zhendong Li, William Hughes and colleagues.
School-based physical activity and physical literacy were well represented, including the first national survey of outdoor play provision in Irish primary schools (Michelle Bergin), the Irish Secondary Schools Physical Literacy Project (Seán Townsend and colleagues), an evaluation of 'The Daily Move' in Irish primary schools (Luke Hanna and colleagues, MTU), and preliminary findings from LifeLab Dublin on health literacy in adolescents from areas of socio-economic disadvantage (Lorna Burke and colleagues).
Youth sport was examined through work on development pathways in camogie, psychological correlates of dropout in organised sport, the Gaelic4Mothers&Others programme, and the Teen Sport Innovation Fund.
Symposium: Reframing Health and Fitness in Post-Primary PE
The day closed with a symposium chaired by Prof Elaine Murtagh bringing together research, practice-based enquiry and policy development on health and fitness in post-primary PE. It featured teachers' perspectives on muscle strengthening exercise in PE (Dr Brendan O'Keeffe), a self-study on integrating health-related activity through gymnastics in Junior Cycle PE, and an interactive workshop contributing to the Physical Education Association of Ireland's forthcoming position statement on fitness testing (Dr John Murphy), which reframes fitness testing as a learning process rather than a measurement exercise.
Panel Discussion
The Forum concluded with a panel discussion drawing together the threads of the day. Panellists, Prof Claire Gubbins, Dr Eddie McGuinness, Dr Joey Murphy, Prof Ann MacPhail, and Dr Áine McNamara, reflected on how the research presented can be translated into policy and practice, the challenges of sustaining impact beyond individual projects, and the role of collaboration between researchers, practitioners and policymakers in shaping the future of physical education, physical activity and youth sport in Ireland. The discussion was a fitting close to a day built around the Forum theme of maximising impact.
Thank You
A huge thank you to everyone who presented, chaired sessions and attended, helping to make the PEPAYS Ireland Forum 2026 such a success. We would like to extend a special thank you to Dr Maura Coulter and Dr Hannah Goss for leading the organisation of the event, alongside Maeve Murray, Niamh Boylan and Dr Cillian Brennan, whose outstanding contributions were instrumental to the Forum's success. We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Scientific Committee: Michelle Dillon (MIE), Grace Cardiff (MU), John Murphy (SETU), Joao Mota (UCC) and Simon Toole (UU).
The quality and breadth of work presented was a strong reflection of the health of physical education, physical activity and youth sport research in Ireland, and of the collaborative spirit that PEPAYS was established to foster. We look forward to seeing the conversations that began in the Polaris Building continue to shape research, policy and practice in the years ahead.
The full Book of Abstracts is available at the link below for anyone who wants to explore the research presented on the day in more detail.