Dear PEAI Member,
We hope this email finds you well and you had a great summer. First and foremost, very best wishes to you and your students for the year ahead. This email contains updates regarding the PEAI Conference, resources and webinars, PEAI Executive and Michael Darmody Award nominations, and updates to our constitution as part of our engagement with the Charity Regulator.
Conference 2025
We are delighted to confirm the date and venue for our annual flagship event, the PEAI Conference, which will be held at the Castletroy Park Hotel Limerick on October 10th and the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick on October 11th. A really exciting Conference is planned, with workshops on CBAs, PAs, PAPs, gymnastics, martial arts, curriculum models, digital technology, adventure education…. and much, much more! Our conference is limited to 250 attendees, there has been significant demand in recent years so be sure to book early! Conference booking will go live on September 15th. There are limited reduced rate rooms remaining in the Castletroy Park Hotel that can be booked now (€135 Single; €145 Double; €155 Triple B&B). There will be live music, finger food and a late bar on the Friday night following the AGM and panel discussions. This offers members an ideal opportunity to reconnect with college friends and colleagues, past and present, the night before the Conference. Please spread the word among your colleagues for what promises to be a great weekend. Further details are available here – https://www.peai.org/conference/, and keep an eye on our social channels.
PEAI Member Resources & Webinars
A reminder that a full suite of resources across junior and senior cycle PE, including all workshop material from PEAI Conferences in recent years, are available via the members section on our website, www.peai.org. A short guidance video on how to access these is available here. Most recently, PEAI Executive member John Murphy and Emma Saunders of SETU Waterford delivered an excellent Sport Psychology webinar that is available to members. Whether you are a PE teacher, coach, or student, this session offers ready-to-use examples, reflection tasks, and resources to help make sport psychology relatable and applicable.
Charity Registration and PEAI Constitution
Approval as a Charity has been an ongoing core goal of the Executive over the past two years since the process was initiated. Thank you to those who have engaged with the process of updating our Constitution following an open call to contribute. We have successfully completed phase one and phase two of the registration process in collaboration with the Charity Regulator, and are now at the point of signing off on the process. This will be completed at our AGM in the Castletroy Park Hotel on October 10th. Attached is the most up-to-date version. Should you have any questions on the attached or the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@pea.org.
LCPE Subject Development Group Update
The 10th and final meeting of the LCPE Subject Development Group took place on Friday, May 16th, 2025. The specification was then put through a review process internally within the NCCA before being passed onto their Board for Senior Cycle, and then to Council for approval. In late June all seven Tranche 2 specifications, including Leaving Certificate Physical Education, were approved at Council. The final step was then completed at the end of August by the Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McAntee TD, who signed off on the LCPE specification for publication by the NCCA, for introduction into schools from September 2026. Keep an eye on developments on the LCPE Curriculum Developments page here.
Nominations
Michael Darmody Award: The PEAI Executive invites our members to submit their nominations for the 2025 Michael Darmody award by filling in a copy of the The Michael Darmody Award – Nomination Form 2025 before 5pm on Friday 12th September 2025. The PEAI launched, in 2011, an award in recognition of an outstanding contribution to physical education in Ireland. It is presented annually at the PEAI Conference every October. Click here to download the nomination form.
PEAI Executive: The PEAI are seeking nominations for the election of members to its Executive Committee. It is a very rewarding role for those able and willing to take on a new challenge! Nominations must be proposed and seconded by current PEAI members and should be made via email to info@peai.org before 5pm on Friday, September 12th 2025.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
Physical Education Association of Ireland
President: Brendan O’Keeffe
Vice President: Alan Finnegan