‘To do this job, you need to be supported’: Kate O’Connor backs call for athlete tax break

Kate O’Connor has been busy putting her mastery in multi-events to other uses since winning her European heptathlon gold in Birmingham last month. Between attending Electric Picnic, Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at Croke Park, the recent Athlos meeting, and London Fashion Week, she’s been turning on her style in other ways too.Unlike some other medal winners, however, O’Connor didn’t get to cash in on her success a whole lot more. There were no multi-events at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship earlier this month, which had a record prize purse of $10 million (€8.7 million), nor at last Friday’s Athlos meeting in London, where the winners of six women-only events each got $65,000 (€57,000).O’Connor is not necessarily complaining about that. She’s on the top level of Sport Ireland funding, a podium grant worth €40,000, and an ambassador for several leading brands. But the 25-year-old is backing a call from the Team Ireland Athletes’ Commission for a new tax break for all Irish athletes ahead as part of Budget 2027.It would allow athletes an annual tax credit worth €50,000 which they could use during or after their sporting career, aligning Olympic and Sport Ireland‑carded athletes with the existing Artists Exemption. It would also expand the Sportspersons Relief to include all Olympic sports, beyond the 13 currently covered.READ MORE“It’s definitely something I would be in complete support of, and it would be great if it was brought in,” says O’Connor. “I think that to do this job, and do the job well, you need to be supported, and there’s probably that middle ground between being supported really well, and then not being supported at all. “For the athletes in between that, it can be very, very difficult to make that jump to winning medals when they’re not being supported well enough. It’s expensive to go on training camps, to pay coaches, to get treatment every week, as well as fuelling well, trying to live a normal life, pay rent, and maybe save something in between.”Attending Taylor’s fight in Dublin earlier this month also provided O’Connor with a reminder of what athletes can do for their country, not just what their country can do for them.“Whether it’s Katie (Taylor), or even myself, winning medals – it gives the country a lift. I think it’s definitely something that the Government needs to look at. It’s such a huge positive for people sitting at home watching athletes do well.“So I think (the tax break) would be a huge benefit – to enjoy all the hard work that we put in, then maybe having some savings to be able to buy a house at the end of it.”Kate O’Connor celebrates with fans after collecting her heptathlon gold medal at the European Championships last month. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho An ambassador for Spar, O’Connor was speaking at the announcement of €60,000 in funding for 30 grassroots sports clubs as part of their Team Ireland sponsorship.On the point of supporting women in sport, O’Connor says the Athlos meet’s all-women approach left her wanting more.“I can completely understand what the likes of Athlos are doing. There’s so many pros to championing women in sport, because what we’re doing in the space is really remarkable. “But for me, when I was there, I kind of felt a little bit like I missed the men competing too. Athletics for me is such an equal sport. I’m a real fan, and love watching the men’s long jump as much as I’m watching the women’s long jump. “It’s nice once in a while for women to go out and showcase what they can do, and for everything just to be about them. I think that the way the fashion was incorporated into it is an avenue that athletics can go down.”After her latest success in Birmingham, her seventh successive championship medal over the last two years, O’Connor is slowing turning her thoughts towards what comes next. The pentathlon at the European Indoors in Valencia in March is already targeted as her return to multi-event competition. “Ideally, I would like to compete a little bit more individually next year. I would like to do a couple of hurdles races, maybe a few long jumps. I’m really enjoying long jump at the moment,” she says.“I’ve been getting better, I’m not stagnant in any way. I’ve said so many times that the team I work with, we’re all really close-knit. I believe in them just as much, if not more, than they believe in me, and I just believe that they’re giving me the recipe to make me a better athlete.“I feel I’m leaving 2026 like I still have so much more potential, that I could have done so much more this year. I think that’s a great feeling to have going into 2027, where I can continue to build, hopefully continue to stay injury-free, and ultimately continue to get better.”