Sport in Ireland Football in 2003 accounted for 34% of total sports attendances at events in the Republic of Ireland, followed by hurling at 23%, association football (soccer) at 16% and rugby at 8%, and Initiative's ViewerTrack study measuring 2005 sports audiences showed the sport's highest-profile match, the All-Ireland Football Final, to be the most watched event of the nation's sporting year. Football is the most played team sport in Ireland. Gaelic football, hurling, golf, aerobics, cycling, swimming and billiards/snooker are the other sporting activities with the highest levels of playing participation in the Republic of Ireland. As Northern Ireland is a constitute
Sport in the United Kingdom to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. In a small number of sports, these teams are supplemented by high-profile events featuring a combined team representing one or more nations. For information on sports in a British home nation you may wish, therefore, to consider reading the Sport in England, Sport in Scotland, Sport in Wales or Sport in Northern Ireland articles, or the Sport in Ireland article where appropriate. Overall, association football attracts the most viewers and money though the nation is notable for the diversity of its sporting interests, especially at the elite level. Major individual sports include athletics,