Irish Sport on Social Media Monthly Report - January 2026 on Facebook
Olytico’s analysis of Irish Sport on Social Media for January 2026 covers 12,200 posts, 4 million public engagements, and close to 16 million TikTok views.
Today, in the third of four articles on the Social Media metrics from last month, we are focusing on Facebook, which has shown a remarkable bounce back in numbers and relevance this month.
X activity climbed 24% in comparison to the previous month, and engagements rose 21% to 126,000, while Facebook saw a 14% uplift in posting translate into 610,000 engagements (+18%).
TikTok delivered the biggest efficiency win, with views surging 64% to 15.7 million, and four organisations breaking the ‘magic million’, led by the URC at 5.8 million views.
The analysis’ key takeaways include high-performing content leaning heavily into wholesome, shareable moments, the value of collaborations, and trend-aware execution.
In the infographics below, we have ranked each of the organisations across a range of metrics on each network, including the most active, the most engaged with, and the most engaging content as well as engagements per 1,000 followers where possible.
It is important to note that this analysis is based on publicly available data. It does not include any analysis or insight on paid or promoted content. When % figures are used (unless otherwise stated), they refer to the previous month’s figures.
Here is how our monthly report coverage will look this week.
X Analysis – TuesdayFacebook Analysis – WednesdayInstagram Analysis – ThursdayTikTok Analysis – Friday
January 2026 Highlights on Facebook
Facebook activity increased 14% in January to 4,021 posts which led to an 18% rise in engagements to 610,287. This was a significant step up on 12 months ago when the numbers were 2,780 generating 375,851, a welcome reversal of recent trends and a perhaps surprising revival of Facebook. In January 2024 the number of engagements was 657,857.
The NIFL (528, +1%) topped the Facebook activity charts for the third month in a row, and they were followed by the GAA (397, +129%) and the League of Ireland (352, +4%).
Volleyball Ireland (146, +256%) kept fans up to date with all the action from the U18 SCA European Zonal Qualifiers held at the Sport Ireland Campus.
Irish Rugby were in Edinburgh for the launch of the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
Basketball Ireland (219, +126%) saw St. Pat’s, Cavan students lift the roof off the National Basketball Arena when they made the late bucket to win the U16 ‘A’ All-Ireland Schools title.
Irish Rugby (1,321, +14%) topped the engagement per post charts, and they were followed by the FAI (642, +93%) and the Northern Ireland National Team (636, +134%).
Tennis Ireland (60, +233%) saw Westport’s Eoghan Jennings head to the Junior Australian Open – the first Irish Junior to play at that level since 2022.
Camogie (196, +120%) showcased that winning feeling, as Dervla Higgins lifted the cup as Athenry celebrated a dramatic 0-14 to 0-12 win over St Finbarr’s in the AIB All-Ireland Senior final replay.
Squash Ireland (1,684) once again topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric.
Cricket Ireland posted the most engaged with content on Facebook in January as the Ireland Women took in the views after arriving in Nepal ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier – the post has generated over 8,000 public engagements to date.
X Analysis – TuesdayFacebook Analysis – WednesdayInstagram Analysis – ThursdayTikTok Analysis – Friday
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