IRFU Partner With St. Michael’s House To Offer Work Placements For People With Disabilities

The IRFU is delighted to announce a collaboration with St Michael’s House, a leading provider of services to men, women and children with disabilities and their families in the greater Dublin area. Over eight weeks an IRFU staff member will function as a mentor for a St Michael’s House service user, giving them insight and training into life in a sports governing body.

This initiative was the result of an IRFU staff wide EDI survey which showed a willingness by the organisations workforce to embrace working with people who have disabilities to have a more diverse workforce.

An information session was held in Aviva Stadium for staff who had the opportunity to learn about what was involved and get information from St Michael’s House on the services they provide.

Anne Marie Hughes, the IRFU’s head of EDI says:“When our team showed their willingness and commitment to having a diverse workforce, we felt it was important to be able to offer opportunities for people with a disability to learn what it was like to work in the IRFU. Partnering with St Michael’s House was an obvious choice give they support numerous people and their families in the greater Dublin area.

We are excited to welcome Ashwin into the IRFU team, who will be partnered with Tanya who works in our rugby development department. Having a more diverse workforce benefits everyone and, as a national governing body for a sport that offers inclusive formats, it is important we have that diversity within our organisation too.”

Quote from Lorna Hughes, WorkAbility Co-Ordinator St Michael’s House: ‘St. Michael’s House are delighted to collaborate with the IRFU. Employment opportunities for the people we support are limited, so partnering with the IRFU is very exciting for jobseekers that we support. The IRFU have shown a clear drive for diversity and equality within their workforce, and St. Michael’s House WorkAbility team are committed to making this collaboration a success. We have no doubt both Ashwin and the IRFU will be very much positively impacted.’

This also comes on the back of a recent partnership with the Middletown Centre to deliver bespoke training to coaches and volunteers on the topic of autism. The aim of the training is to ensure that the coaches and volunteers involved in delivering the game in local communities all over Ireland have an awareness and understanding of the experiences of autistic players, so that they can best support them to thrive.

For more information on the various programmes of rugby that the IRFU offer for all abilities please visit: https://www.irishrugby.ie/playing-the-game/spirit-of-rugby/disability-rugby/