The first ever high-performance base for the senior Irish Sailing Team was launched on Friday on the grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The facility was constructed at a cost of €300,000 and funded entirely by the Irish Sailing Foundation.

It is a great example of doing what can be done, when it can be done, as opposed to waiting until everything is perfect.

Thirteen sailors from throughout Ireland will be based there, including 2016 Olympic Games silver medallist Annalise Murphy, her new sailing partner, Katie Tingle, from Cork, and six other world championship medallists.

The Performance HQ is entirely mobile. It consists of three converted shipping units with space for briefings and athlete education, a gym, gear storage and a boat maintenance area.

The athlete briefing room, on the side away from the water in the picture above, can be shipped directly to international competitions and will provide a base for Ireland’s sailing athletes overseas.

This will be shipped to Japan ahead of next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics, putting Ireland on a similar facility level as many of those we are competing against, for the first time.

There is a boat park and a pontoon for launching the boats just behind the yellow buoy in the picture.

“Having this new base is fantastic,” said Annalise Murphy. “For the first time we have a home, somewhere we know we can train, share experiences and focus as a group on how we can make our sailing performances better.”

“It will be a huge support to our campaigns at international events this year as we look to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”

“We’ve got a saying, ‘Leave home stronger’, which is there to remind us that we’ve got a home to come back to where we can recover, gain strength and prepare for the next campaign. That’s what the new HQ gives us – it means we don’t need to rely on the nomadic overseas campaigns of the past.”

The new HQ will improve both training and educational opportunities for the sailors. It has been instituted with the specific aim of maximising Ireland’s medal potential in international competitions and qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The new HQ was officially opened by Mary Mitchell O’Connor, local TD and Minister of State for Higher Education.

“I have no doubt that with this terrific new facility, Irish sailors will be stronger as a squad and be better positioned than ever before to mount successful campaigns at international events in 2019 and beyond, including at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” sahe said.

“The creation of the Performance HQ is great news – there is no doubt that we’re at the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Irish Sailing, delivering on the medal-winning potential that the facility will help shape and focus,” added Irish Sailing CEO Harry Hermon.

“Clearly, however, this new home for the Performance team would not have been possible without the generosity and far-sightedness of those who, through the Irish Sailing Foundation, funded the project.”

“Competitive sailing requires incredible dedication and sacrifice from the athletes, their families and supporters, and Irish Sailing and its chances of success on a global stage rely on the vision and philanthropy of a group of individuals to whom we are extremely grateful.”

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The Olympic Federation of Ireland has announced an investment fund of €250,000 to support Olympic focussed projects across the Olympic cycle.

The OFI’s ‘Discretionary Funding’ programme was first introduced in July 2018. The 25% increase in funding for year two of the programme is being provided in addition to scholarship programmes and investments by the OFI to support athlete and team participation in Olympic events.

“We look forward to contributing 25 per cent more funding this year to support Irish athletes and performance programmes at this important phase of the Olympic cycle,” said Olympic Federation CEO Peter Sherrard.

“The 2018 applications demonstrated high levels of innovation and focus from our National Governing Bodies as well as the strong demand across Irish sport for additional resources.”

The 39 member federations of the Olympic Federation of Ireland will be invited to apply for funding of between €5,000 and €30,000 under one of three headings:

• ‘Make a Difference’ projects,
• ‘Performance Coach Support’ or
• ‘National Federation Olympic Development’ support.”

Member National Governing Bodies will have until April 4th to make applications and these will be reviewed by a five-person panel, including Sport Ireland and independent members in line with weighted criteria set out in the application.

Sport for Business understands that half of the available moneys are being targetted at the ‘Making a Difference’ strand.

Transparency and evalueation of the value of the projects will be taken into account as part of the process.

In 2018 the Olympic Federation of Ireland provided grants to 19 projects under this funding stream.

The Discretionary Fund is designed to leverage existing funding going to NGBs from Sport Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and other sources.

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Player grants totalling €176,000 have been awarded to 12 aspiring professional golfers in 2019. This is an increase of €46,000 on the back of an increase in funding from Sport Ireland.

Five players have received the maximum grant of €20,000, including Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire for the first time as a professional.

She is one of three new players alongside Robin Dawson and Paul McBride, who have qualified for support in 2019.

In addition to the cash funding, a total of 28 starts on the European Challenge Tour have also been secured.

Sport Ireland has committed an extra €20,000 to Team Ireland Golf in 2019, bringing their total support to €220,000.

Proceeds from the second Team Ireland Golf Pro-Am, which took place at The K Club last July, contributed another €45,000.

“Sport Ireland is delighted to invest in Team Ireland Golf, which is continuing to help Ireland’s top amateur golfer transition into the professional game,” said CEO John Treacy at yesterday’s announcement.

“The access the grant recipients have to the GUI National Golf Academy at Carton House and the world-class facilities in the Sport Ireland Institute is clearly having an impact on Ireland’s up-and-coming golfers.”

“We have seen some excellent results on the international stage, most recently Leona Maguire’s first professional win at the Windsor Golf Classic in California earlier this month.”

“Under the guidance of Team Ireland Golf Leader Des Smyth, Ireland has in place a strong system which will ensure Ireland continues to produce world-class golfers long into the future.”

“The increase in funding from Sport Ireland is a welcome boost for Team Ireland Golf,” added Smyth. “The continued support of Sport Ireland enables us to better equip the players for life on a professional tour so that they spend more time focusing on their game and less time worrying about their finances”.

As part of the Team Ireland support package, all golfers can avail of the practice facilities at the GUI’s National Golf Academy.

A coaching base has also been established at Quinta do Lago in Portugal. The resort’s facilities are available to players during the winter months. Neil Manchip and David Kearney provide additional coaching support.

Players can also utilise various support services through the Sport Ireland Institute including drawing on the benefits of the latest developments in sport science and physiotherapy.

More than €3.8m has been provided to members of Team Ireland Golf during the last 19 years. Over 100 players have benefitted from the scheme, including players such as Shane Lowry, Paul Dunne and Michael Hoey.

Team Ireland Golf is administered by the Confederation of Golf in Ireland.

Leona Maguire, Robin Dawson, Stephanie Meadow, Gavin Moynihan and Cormac Sharvin will all get the top grant of €20,000; Ruarí McGee gets €14,000, Gary Hurley €12,000; Dermot McElroy, Conor O’Rourke, John Ross Galbraith, Stuart Grehan and Paul McBride will all receive €10,000 as well as a number of guaranteed places on the Challenge Tour.

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A surf club providing therapy for young people facing various physical and mental challenges, Badminton Ireland, a Western swim club, a lawn bowls club, five GAA clubs and five soccer clubs are amongst the 28 sports clubs from all over Ireland announced this morning as county winners in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2019 sports category.

The awards were created to honour and showcase the inspiring work being carried out by thousands of sports clubs in their local communities across Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding.

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games – or over €620,000 per day goes back to Good Causes all over the country in the areas of Sports, Arts, Culture, Heritage, Community, Health, Youth and the Irish Language.

Last year alone more than €226 million in funds for Good Causes was raised by participants of the National Lottery.  Sporting bodies within local communities commanding a significant share of this funding.

“We were bowled over by the number and calibre of entries we received for these awards and it is proof that organisations supported by National Lottery funding are having a huge impact in their local communities,” said National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin.

“Recognising and celebrating this impact is what the National Lottery Good Causes Awards is all about.”

Badminton Ireland is the only National Governing Body to win in its own name, as one of four from Dublin due to the size of population.

There is a good spread across other sports with Rowing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Snooker, Golf and Special Olympics all winning an award.

“It is a privilege to be involved in these awards and to learn first-hand of the impact of Good Causes in every parish, village and town in Ireland,” said broadcaster, publisher and businesswoman, Norah Casey, who is Chair of the competition’s judging panel.

“They truly are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. With more than 480 entries, selecting the county winners has been a very tough job. I congratulate all of those who have come through the County phase of the competition and look forward to the Regional Finals later this month.”

The County winners listed below will now go forward to regional finals across six categories of Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts and Culture, Community and Youth. A seventh category, Irish Language, will have a special award to be announced on the night at the Awards final in November.

Sport for business will run special features on each of the Regional winners in the Sports Category over the course of the summer. We are proud to have the National Lottery on board as one of our Members, highlighting the work they enable in sport through their funding of so many projects.

The individual winners in the County Sports category are:
Carlow – Carlow Rowing Club
Cavan – Bailieboro Celtic AFC
Clare – Lahinch Swim Club
Cork – Cork Acro Gymnastics
Donegal – Liquid Therapy
Dublin – Badminton Ireland, O’Dwyers GAA Club, Malahide Sea Scouts, Dalkey Scuba divers
Galway – Ballinderreen GAA Club
Kerry- Finuge Freewheelers Cycling Club
Kildare – Suncroft GAA
Kilkenny – Freebooters AFC
Laois – Laois Sports Partnership CLG
Leitrim – Kinlough Community Development
Limerick – Granagh Ballingarry GAA Club
Longford – St. Brigid’s GAA
Louth – Glenmuir United FC
Mayo – Ballyhaunis Golf Club
Meath – Enfield Celtic FC
Monaghan – Monaghan Special Olympics
Offaly – St. Joseph’s Hall Sports Committee
Roscommon – Oran GAA
Tipperary – Peake Villa FC
Waterford – Cappoquin Rowing Club
Westmeath – Kinnegad Juniors AFC
Wexford – St. Patrick’s Snooker Club
Wicklow – Greystones Lawn Bowling Club

 

Image credits: Julian Behal Photography

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The issue of GAA funding for Dublin is one that is guaranteed to raise the temperature among commentators. It was the backdrop to our appearance on this week’s edition of the popular Blue is the Colour Podcast from Barry Fennell of Hill 16 Army.

Trying to make numbers accessible and interesting on audio can be a challenge but we made a reasonable fist of it if the initial reaction on social media is anything to go by.

We explored some of the reasons behind the decision to raise Dublin’s funding back in 2005, at why it was down to people more than just the simple matter of money and will have raised a few heckles with the suggestion that based on a number of key comparisons, there is more of an argument to increase rather than take away money, though rest assured that was not something we suggested.

Patricia Monahan from Dublin Ladies Gaelic Football was also a guest and the conversation rolled into the promotion of the Women’s game and plenty more areas.

The financial elements take up the first fifteen minutes or so if you are pressed for time, but if you are a GAA fan with time to listen there is plenty more of interest, including Amgen’s new sponsorship with Cuala and the simple reason why it was launched in Croke Park with GAA President John Horan dropping by.

You can listen to the Podcast here

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Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business will be appearing on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio One this weekend to discuss the difficulties emerging in inter county funding across the GAA.

The subject reared its head this week with public statements from Galway GAA sponsor for nearly 30 years SuperMacs, asking for greater transparency in how its money was being spent.

We will be discussing the specific issues arising from this very public spat between County board and sponsor and diving a little deeper into the costs and the funding of running the GAA at County level.

The segment will be broadcast live and is planned to take place from 4-30 on Saturday afternoon with show hosts for the day Darragh Moloney and John Murray.

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Sport will be a winner from the 2020 budget as more detail was released yesterday on the make up of the funding that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has secured for the year ahead.

All of the details have yet to be fully released but what we do know, and what will please sporting bodies, is that there is a substantial increase in the amount of money earmarked for current as opposed to capital spending in the allocation for Sport Ireland.

In total that will amount for the next year to a sum of €68.5 million versus €62.2 million in 2019.

14 Per Cent Lift on Current Spending

The biggest uplift is in the amount for current spending which has climbed from €57.3 million this year to €65.6 million next year, a rise of a little more than 14 per cent.

This will include the money that goes towards National Governing Bodies to administer sport and bring programmes to life, to atheletes through the carding scheme of payments based on performance and potential and other measures.

The increase is largely attributed to money that will be needed to further the development of the National Sports Policy.  It is expected that an announcement on the implementation plans for this, arising out of the work of the Sport Leadership Group over the last twelve months, will be made shortly.

There is a less amount going to Capital projects as part of that funding stream down from €4.9 million to €2.9 million.

Capital allocations will be lower as well in terms of the next round of Sports Capital grants but that is largely down to a significant rollover of money yet to be drawn down from the current round and is more of a phasing issue.

The outcome of the 2019 round is expected to be published shortly and Sport for business understands that the €40 million that will deliver will be widespread and accomodating a significant proportion of those eligible projects that were put forward.

Minister of State Brendan griffin confirmed yesterday that a new round would open again after the publication of those results and that an amount of €34 million was set aside for this, as well as for meeting existing commitments under the local Authority Swimming Pool Programme.

Large Scale Infrasructure

A figure of €10 million was outlined for the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund but we are still awaiting clarification on whether this is a further amount to the €63 million originally earmarked in the first three years of ten over which €100 million had been promised.

This will be of material interest to Leinster Rugby and the RDS for the redevelopment of their grounds; to Connacht Rugby for their major project at the Sportsgrounds, and for the many other sporting bodies that are banking on this.

€8 Million for Major Events

The other single line item that emerged at the Department briefing yesterday, at which Sport for Business was the only sporting media in attendance, a figure of €8 million was listed to fund major events including the tokyo olympics, Euro 2020 and the Ryder Cup which is coming to Adare Manor.

We believe the latter, together with an agreed contribution for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open will take up as much as half of this money and will be repeated on a multi annual basis through to the tournemnt which will be hosted here in 2026.

The balance wil go towards the Euro 2020 games being staged here next summer and preparation for the Olympic Games.

In relation to the Euro’s we understand this is a commitment directly to UEFA and so will not be affected by the current suspension of state funding to the FAI.  It has to be hoped that this will have been resolved but regardless, the Euro’s are coming and a way has to be found to meet the State’s promises in that regard.

Olympics

The boost for the Olympics is a positive one and the Olympic Federation of Ireland were the first representative body to welcome that last night.

It is welcome though will be quickly swallowed up with our largest and most complex team lining up qualification for a Games that will require travel to the opposite side of the world.

Our first time ever qualification of all three teams in the equestrian disciplines is great but also expensive while the hope of securing qualification for both the Men’s and Women’s hockey teams and four boats in rowing will also be a lot more expensive than a single athlete, boxer, gymnast, or swimmer.

The responsibility for determining the breakdown of how money will be distributed across all the sports lies in the hands of Sport Ireland who will now hunker down internally and with the sporting bodies to determine the most effective ways of distributing the money that the department has won for them.

Campus

Like any budget we do not yet know the full picture.  The Sport Ireland Campus was referenced but there was no specific allocation yesterday towards the next phase of development which had been slated as the new national Velodrome and Badminton Arena, scheduled to commence in 2020.

We will be following up on the clarity around this and other areas, as well as collating reaction from across the sporting spectrum in tomorrow morning’s Sport for Business Daily Digest.

Navigating the labrynth of a national budget that runs to hundreds of billions of state expenditure is never straightforward for recipients, analysts or even Department officials but rest assured we will try our best to make it as clear as possible.
 

The post Budget 2020 – The Breakdown for Sport appeared first on Sport for Business.

Today is the day for sports clubs and governing bodies to learn of their success or otherwise in the Sports Capital Grants scheme.  The news is being disseminated by TD’s, Ministers and even our Taoiseach who has been congratulating a number of clubs in his constituency who have secured over €250,000 of grants.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, believed to be in line to replace Maria Bailey on the Fine Gael ticket in Dun Laoghaire has congratulated her local Rugby Club on their success and the announcements are coming thick and fast on social media using #SportsCapital19.

It’s a great way of seeing how local-based democracy really works, though all the decisions on grants were taken in a transparent manner and based on strict criteria.

Sport for Business understands that Dublin has fared well with as many as 80 per cent of applications that were valid getting money from the scheme.

That figure is also understood though to have dropped as low as 20 per cent in other counties.

We believe that the success of the scheme and the still great hunger from clubs means that a new round in 2020 is inevitable and has in fact already been budgeted for.

Sport for Business working with our friends and partners in 2Into3 will be hosting a series of Masterclasses around the country early in the new year where we will be able to share the success of clubs that have won and point to the ways in which applications can be made in order to give your club the best possible chance.

These were a great success at the end of last year and we look forward to hitting the road again in 2020.

If you would like to express your interest in taking part in a Masterclass in your region let us know in the form below and we will be in touch with dates and venues based on demand from around the country.

Create your own user feedback survey
 

Image credits, Twitter

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Sport Ireland has announced a significant €36 million investment package for National Governing Bodies of Sport, High-Performance sport and Local Sports Partnerships for 2020.

In 2020, Sport Ireland will invest an additional €1million in the core operations of National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), bringing the total funding to €13.85 million in 2020. This is up from a figure of €10.8 million in 2017, with the growth attributed to promises undertaken as part of the National Policy on Sport that was brought to life first in 2018.

Core funding for the three large field sports is determined separately and an announcement on this will be made in the coming weeks, perhaps with reference to lifting of the suspension of funding to the FAI.
Last year’s funding in that direction was €2.9 million of which three quarters was drawn down.

€9.4 million is being invested in High-Performance programmes and Tokyo 2020 support, along with €820,000 allocated to the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Paralympics to support operations and administration ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This represents the highest amount ever invested in High-Performance sport in Ireland and brings to €34,427,500 the total invested over the four years of the Tokyo Olympic cycle.

This investment in High-Performance sport is bolstered by a 26% per cent increase in investment in the International Carding Scheme, with €2.43 million being allocated in 2020. €220,000 will be allocated to the Team Ireland Golf scheme.

The Sport Ireland Local Sports Partnership Network will receive €8.3 million to support operations and programmes at a participation level and targeting specific groups at a local level.

Over the course of the coming week, we will look in greater detail at each of these funding streams, pointing out the main winners and gathering reaction from across the sporting spectrum.

The outcome of increased investment was highlighted by a total of 80 medals won in 2019 at recognised World or European championship level.

45 of these were won by women with 25 by men and ten in mixed team environments.

It is rare that Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross is a bit downbeat at such a day of celebration but there was a wistfulness in his thanking Sport Ireland Chairman Kieran Mulvey for delivering a ‘political obituary’ in terms of the praise heaped upon him for his work over the lifetime of this Government and on probably the last occasion he will be in front of such a broad sporting gathering before the General Election.

If he does not return to the post in whatever form of coalition emerges, Mulvey was keen to point out the positive contribution which he and Minister of State Brendan Griffin had made in the field of sports funding and strategy.

“It is encouraging to see this significant uplift in funding for sport in Ireland,” he said.

“2020 will see Sport Ireland allocate the highest amount ever in grant funding across the board. I would like to thank Minister Ross and Minister Griffin, and their colleagues in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, for their continued commitment to the National Sports Policy and the vision to transform the Irish sporting landscape in the coming decade.”

“2019 saw further development of the Sport Ireland Campus with the opening of Phase 2 of the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena and a state of the art hockey pitch. These infrastructural developments underpin our athlete’s success on the playing field and further augment the Sport Ireland Campus as the epicentre of high-performance sport.”

Sport Ireland Chief Executive, John Treacy also welcomed the increased funding, adding, “Sport Ireland is delighted to be in a position to provide the majority of performing National Governing Bodies for Sport and Local Sports Partnerships with another increase in funding in 2020.”

“The continued investment in the high-performance sport will be enhanced by a 14 per cent increase in investment in the facilities and expertise available at the Sport Ireland Institute which is vitally important as we start moving towards Tokyo 2020. The strengthened relationship between the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Paralympics Ireland and Sport Ireland means we are starting the Olympic and Paralympic countdown in a very strong and positive position and look forward to another good year for Irish sport at all levels.”

“This year, Sport Ireland will invest €871,010 in programme funding to the LSP network, an increase of 53 per cent from the €568,650 invested in 2019.”

“Programme funding is at the core of the LSPs engagement with participants and allows for the delivery of a range of community, club and school-based initiatives, programmes and events.”

“At a local level, the increased investment in Local Sports Partnerships, and in particular the funding for additional LSP Development Officers will continue to build capacity across the network and effectively support the delivery of the actions outlined in the National Sports Policy,” added Sport Ireland Director of Participation and Ethics, Dr Una May.

“In 2020 Sport Ireland will also support Local Authorities to develop Local Sports Plans to increase participation locally, in a manner consistent with the vision and objectives set down in the National Sports Policy.”

“As per the policy, a locally-led, nationally supported approach will be a key feature of our participation strategy and the funding announced today will support this key work.”

Coming up on Sport for Business in the coming days:

• Core Funding Detail for National Governing Bodies and Reaction
  
• Funding for High-Performance and Olympic and Paralympic Preparation
  
• €2.4 million for individual athletes and how that breaks down
  
• Funding increase for Local Sports Partnerships

Image Credit: Morgan Treacy, Inpho.ie

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Irish sport has benefitted in the past from funding streams through the Dormant Accounts Fund and that may be a way in which Government financial support could be offered now as funding comes under the most intense pressure.

Last week the Government announced the creation of a €35 million Covid-19 Stability Fund to assist charities, community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises.

It is intended to ‘provide a level of support to qualifying organisations who are most in need and have seen their trading and/or fundraising income drop significantly during the crisis.

There are those who would argue that sport is in some way too professional to benefit in those terms from additional Government funding but that is to be blinded by international as opposed to local realities.

Each of the three major field sports of Gaelic Games, Football and Rugby rely on amateur engagement for their appeal and the part they play in defining what it is to be part of a local and a national community.

Funding

They each get funding from the Government to cover part of the work they do but are better positioned than most sporting organisations to benefit from commercial partnerships and revenues from the elite end of their sport.

In the past eight weeks, and for a substantial period into the future those funding streams have been swept away. Yes, costs are also down but sport has stepped up in terms of providing bodies to answer Ireland’s community call up and down the country and if the principal of supporting charities who provide an invaluable service to the community is accepted, then sport should surely be considered as well.

The financial hit being taken collectively across those three sports alone is likely to reach as high as €100 million in 2020.

Some of that can be recovered when sport returns and some of it will be ‘mortgaged ‘ against future income by international sporting bodies that have more heft than any individual Government in keeping the wheels turning.

Much of it though will be lost. In team sport terms the biggest single outlay for many clubs, especially in urban areas, is the cost of electricity or rent in terms of providing winter training facilities.

Expenditure

That expenditure for the first three months of 2020 had already been incurred and if membership subscriptions drop as a result of individuals reduced circumstances, then clubs will feel the bite.

Investment in facilities has been paused and can be picked up again with the gradual return to action but those that are there have still to be maintained and clubs in the main are operating on a current account basis of spending what money they bring in.

Sports away from the big three like Gymnastics, Basketball and other indoor sports are likely to have to wait longer but are also still incurring expenses through the long term rental of premises.

They are part of the wider economic picture and will be able to benefit from some of the Government supports but their importance to the physical and mental wellbeing of the communities they serve is perhaps more important than most.

Discussions
We have no doubt that discussions between a supportive Government Department and an active and engaged Sport Ireland and the Federation of Irish Sport are taking place and that a way will be found.

Sometimes though it is the narrative and the timing of support that is most important. Sports clubs will look to the money now being made available to the local charity and wondering how they are going to pay the bills as they land at the end of the month.

What has helped us all get through the crisis better than many might have hoped has been the willingness to allay the worst of fears around how we can survive financially.

There is still fear of course and many in the tourism and hospitality sector, in particular, will be finding it hard to sleep for worry over what will happen next.

If we do not stand up though and plead the case for sport so that is heard in Government and within sport itself, then there will be an additional fear that we are being left further back in the queue for help.

There is a National Policy for Sport which outlines funding and actions that will leave us immeasurably stronger as a sporting nation with physical activity as a key component of how we live.
Now though it may be time to bring some of the funding intended for further down the line into play so that sport can be maintained in order to see that future.

Check out our Live Sessions and Events coming up on Sport for Business

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