Funding of €5.8 million for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to support coaching and games development is on hold pending approval by the board of Sport Ireland.
In the announcement of the €40 million investment in the sports sector for 2021, Sport Ireland confirmed their annual investment in the three large field sports - IRFU, GAA and FAI.
A total of €2,389,653 has been allocated to the GAA and €2,250,843 to the IRFU, which supports “vital coaching, games development and technical development programmes”.
As per the memorandum of understanding agreed between the Government and the Football Association of Ireland, €5.8 million in funding will be made available to the FAI for football development programmes, pending approval by the board of Sport Ireland.
"That €5.8 million was a commitment made by the Government to the FAI to meet their needs over the next three years," said John Treacy, chief executive of Sport Ireland. "That will go to the board in May, so it was a timing issue, nothing more than a timing issue.
“Obviously we are working very closely with the FAI in terms of meeting the conditions of the memorandum of understanding, and they’ve made very good progress on that, just to say that, a lot of dialogue going on with the FAI around a lot of that. They’re having their AGM at the end of May to finalise that process, so it’s mainly a timing issue at this particular point in time.”
The €13.8 million for core activity of 59 national governing bodies (NGB’s), the €8,500,000 to support high performance programmes, and the €2.68 million in international carding scheme are effectively unchanged from their 2020 allocation, as was agreed by Sport Ireland once Covid-19 first drove the country into lockdown in March of last year.
However the €9.5 million to support work of 29 local sports partnerships (LSP) is up 15 per cent on 2020 funding: this increase in investment provides an opportunity for Sport Ireland to support a locally led safe return to sport and to further build the capacity of LSPs, increasing their reach and impact across Ireland.
Restrictions
The latest funding announcement follows a year in which the sector has been significantly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions in place since March 2020. According to Sport Ireland, “this funding, in addition to the recently allocated Covid-19 grant scheme, will provide stability and certainty to organisations throughout 2021. In line with previous years, a portion of the core funding budget (‘special projects and programmes’) will be ring fenced to assist with strategically important NGB related events and projects”.
High performance programme funding will also be maintained for 2021 at €8,500,000. 2021 is anticipated to be an expensive year for high performance programmes as there remains a high level of uncertainty around competition and training camp plans due to Covid-19.
Sport Ireland will provide further support in 2021 to address the immediate and confirmed costs to high performance programmes in respect of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. That investment in high performance sport also includes funding of €2.68 million through the international carding scheme, also essentially unchanged from 2020, as was agreed shortly after the shut-down of elite sport due to Covid-19.
The international carding scheme provides financial support to 130 athletes and six Tokyo targeted relays/squads across 16 sports. The primary purpose of this funding is to support Irish athletes in reaching finals and achieving medals at European, World, Olympic and Paralympic level. The level of funding on this scheme has increased from €2.4 million in 2020. The scheme has been amended to account for the challenges faced by athletes and NGBs as a result of Covid-19.
Treacy highlighted the important role of community sport, and the optimism for children’s sport resuming: “now we look forward, toward an Olympic and Paralympic Games, to the reopening of sport and physical activity for the general public and a light at the end of the tunnel. There is cause for optimism as children’s sport and some outdoor activity returns and we look forward to even more opportunities to enjoy sport and physical activity in the months ahead”.
National Governing Body 2020/2021 allocation
Special Olympics Ireland €1,400,000/€1,400,000
Athletics Ireland €1,000,000/€1,000,000
Swim Ireland €950,000/€950,000
Horse Sport Ireland €930,000/€930,000
Basketball Ireland €740,000/€740,000
Irish Athletic Boxing Association €500,000/€500,000
Ladies Gaelic Football Association €485,000/€485,000
Cricket Ireland €480,000/€480,000
Tennis Ireland €450,000/€450,000
The Camogie Association €435,000/€435,000
Cycling Ireland €420,000/€420,000
Irish Sailing Association €410,000/€410,000
Badminton Ireland €390,000/€390,000
Hockey Ireland €340,000/€340,000
Gymnastics Ireland €340,000/€340,000
Rowing Ireland €320,000/€320,000
Golf Ireland €320,000/€320,000
Irish Wheelchair Association Sport €285,000/€285,000
Canoeing Ireland €275,000/€275,000
National Community Games €315,000/€260,000
Mountaineering Ireland €235,000/€235,000
Triathlon Ireland €225,000/€225,000
Volleyball Ireland €210,000/€210,000
Irish Squash €200,000/€200,000
Motor Sport Ireland €180,000/€180,000
Table Tennis Ireland €115,000/€115,000
GAA Handball Ireland €105,000/€105,000
Irish Judo Association €100,000/€100,000
Irish Surfing Association €80,000/€80,000
Pitch and Putt Ireland €80,000/€80,000
Snooker & Billiards Ireland €75,000/€75,000
Diving Ireland €75,000/€75,000
Deaf Sports Ireland €65,000/€65,000
Irish Orienteering Association €65,000/€65,000
Irish Martial Arts Commission €60,000/€60,000
Fencing Ireland €55,000/€55,000
Motor Cycling Ireland €48,000/€48,000
Irish Clay Target Shooting Association €48,000/€48,000
Vision Sports Ireland €48,000/€48,000
Irish Olympic Handball Association €48,000/€48,000
Tug of War Ireland €40,000/€40,000
Irish Tenpin Bowling Association €37,000/€37,000
Bowling League of Ireland €32,000/€32,000
American Football Ireland €32,000/€32,000
Weightlifting Ireland €32,000/€32,000
Bol Chumann na hÉireann €32,000/€32,000
Irish Waterski & Wakeboard Federation €27,000/€27,000
Irish Taekwondo Union €25,000/€25,000
Baton Twirling Sport Association of Ireland €25,000/€25,000
Racquetball Association of Ireland €25,000/€25,000
Irish Amateur Wrestling Association €25,000/€25,000
Rugby League Ireland €20,000/€20,000
Speleological Union of Ireland €20,000/€20,000
Angling Council of Ireland €20,000/€20,000
Archery Ireland - /€15,000
Croquet Association of Ireland €10,000/€10,000
Irish Ice Hockey Association €10,000/€10,000
ONAKAI €10,000/€10,000
Special Projects and Programmes 501,000/541,000
Pentathlon Ireland €20,000/€20,000
Total 13,845,000/13,845,000
Field sports funding 2021
GAA €2,389,653
IRFU €2,250,843
FAI €5,800,000*
High Performance Programme funding 2020/2021
Athletics Ireland €840,000/€840,000
Irish Sailing Association €800,000/€800,000
Irish Athletic Boxing Association €770,000/€770,000
Hockey Ireland €730,000/€730,000
Paralympics Ireland €700,000/€700,000
Horse Sport Ireland €690,000/€690,000
Swim Ireland €630,000/€630,000
Rowing Ireland €620,000/€620,000
Confederation of Golf €450,000/€450,000
Cycling Ireland €440,000/€440,000
Irish Rugby Football Union €300,000/€300,000
Pentathlon Ireland €290,000/€290,000
Triathlon Ireland €250,000/€250,000
Gymnastics Ireland €230,000/€230,000
Tennis Ireland €200,000/€200,000
Cricket Ireland €200,000/€200,000
Badminton Ireland €160,000/€160,000
Irish Judo Association €70,000/€70,000
Canoeing Ireland €50,000/€50,000
Irish Taekwondo Union €50,000/€50,000
Irish Clay Target Shooting €30,000/€30,000
Total €8,500,000/€8,500,000
High Performance Operations and Administration funding
Olympic Federation of Ireland €420,000
Paralympics Ireland €400,000
