Minister Ring Announces 7.4m euro Investment in Grassroots Sports for 2014
The Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Mr. Michael Ring TD today announced an investment package of over €7.4 million, through the Irish Sports Council, to support the work of the major field sports (FAI, GAA, IRFU) in developing their games around the country at a grass roots level. This significant funding will support extensive participation programmes aimed at encouraging and creating more opportunities for young people to participate in field sports.
Announcing the package, worth €2.4 million for the GAA, €2.7 million for the FAI and €2.36 million for the IRFU, today Minister Ring said: "The GAA, FAI and IRFU continue their commitment to growing the participation base of their sports. This investment ensures the long-term sustainable development of the three sports in Ireland so that they continue to make a major contribution to our communities in sport and contribute to the health and well-being of the nation. The Government previously announced a funding package of €25million through the Irish Sports Council strategy and these further grants continue to support grassroots participation."
This investment supports the Irish Sports Council's strategic aim of increasing participation in sports throughout Ireland. This includes coach development, club support, under age programmes, volunteer support programmes, community schemes, referee development and targeting at-risk communities.
Kieran Mulvey, Chairperson of the Irish Sports Council explained "We are pleased to announce this investment today. These programmes are based on a shared ethos of developing the grass roots of the games, growing participation numbers and targeting communities outside of the traditional base of the sport".
At the announcement in the Aviva Stadium John Treacy, CEO, Irish Sports Council highlighted the importance of the partnership acknowledged; "The Irish Sports Council are delighted to share a common goal with the GAA, IRFU and FAI to increase participation in sport and physical activity. In 2014, with the support of the Irish Sports Council over 700,000 participants from 4,784 clubs will take part in programmes delivered by the FAI, GAA, and IRFU".
Senior representatives of the three sports, Pلraic Duffy of the GAA, John Delaney of the FAI and Philip Browne from the IRFU, made presentations at the launch detailing the progress made in recent years and their plans for 2014.
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