Dear PEAI Member,
We hope you were able to enjoy a restful summer, with the super weather to make it even better again. Now that we are in the first week of September, we hope you are all settled back into the new academic year, and we wish you and your students the very best. We are reaching out with these updates regarding the upcoming PEAI AGM & Conference in Athlone next month, resources and webinars, PEAI Executive Committee and Michael Darmody Award nominations.
Conference 2026
The final countdown is very much on to our annual flagship event, the PEAI Conference, which will be held at the Athlone Springs Hotel on Friday October 9th, and then over to TUS Athlone Campus on Saturday October 10th. A jam-packed Conference has been put together by our Executive, with workshops on the new LCPE Curriculum Specification, Junior Cycle PE Specification, PE subject inspections, gymnastics, Olympic Handball, teenage girls’ participation in PE and physical activity, athletics, fun warm up games…. 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! We will be running a registration giveaway competition again this year, with a draw entry for a €500 PE Equipment Voucher for the first 100 attendees who register! Conference booking will go live on Wednesday September 16th. There are limited reduced rate rooms remaining at a special PEAI conference rate in the Athlone Springs Hotel that can be booked now before they are released by the hotel (€159 Single Occupancy; €179 Twin Room). Quote ‘PEAI’ when booking via phone. Tel +353 90 644 444. There will be live music, finger food and a late bar on the Friday night following the AGM, keynote and Michael Darmody Award presentation.
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 for updates on keynote speakers, workshops and more conference related updates over the coming weeks.
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. This week we launched our New LCPE Learning Outcomes Webinar recorded by our PEAI Executive member John Murphy, and Shane O’Rourke Lecturer at MTU Kerry, which is now available to members on our Youtube channel or website under the webinars section. With the incoming 5th Years for this academic year now studying the new LCPE Curriculum Specification, this PEAI webinar provides teachers with guidance, ready-to-use examples and resources to make the learning accessible and engaging for our students around the new Learning Outcomes relating to anatomy, physiology and the body’s response to physical activity.
Nominations
Michael Darmody Award: The PEAI Executive invites our members to submit their nominations for the 2026 Michael Darmody award by filling in a copy of the The Michael Darmody Award – Nomination Form 2026 and emailing it to us at info@peai.org before 5pm on Friday 11th September 2026. The PEAI launched, in 2011, an award in recognition of an outstanding contribution to physical education in Ireland. Previous recipients can be seen here on our website. 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 11th 2026.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
Physical Education Association of Ireland
President: Alan Finnegan
Vice President: Gráinne Phelan