Kelly gears up for EU Move Week

News from the European ParliamentIrish towns, cities, sporting organisations, clubs, individuals and institutions are being encouraged to sign up to a new EU initiative aimed at getting people more physically active.European MOVE WEEK, which will take place during the first week of October, will build on the momentum of the Olympics as a large-scale celebration of sport and physical activity. The pilot project is part of a long-term campaign begun by MEPs last year to get 100 million more Europeans active by the year 2020.Irish MEP and former GAA president Sean Kelly, who is helping to drive the project, says that at least twenty European cities will be hosting fifty events this year during MOVE WEEK.The Fine Gael MEP says one of the aims of the campaign is to influence EU sports policy by shifting the emphasis from elite sports to grassroots activity."I'm afraid that too much of the funding available for sports might be gobbled up by big professional bodies, which is of no benefit to grassroots sporting activities," he said.Mr Kelly warned that the use of the term 'sport' can sometimes turn people off, and that he and his colleagues are more keen to promote the more inclusive concept of 'physical activity'."We want to get people more aware of the invaluable health and social benefits that result from any kind of physical activity, whether individual or collective," he added.