NI sporting bodies given £22m in pandemic aid
SPORT Northern Ireland has announced further financial support for sporting bodies as part of a package worth £22.4m through its Sports Sustainability Fund.
In total, 29 different sports governing bodies received the grant money as part of an additional raft of funding from the Department for Communities to support sporting bodies through the pandemic.
Ulster GAA was the big winners of the latest round of funding, receiving just over £7.3m of the £22.4m fund allocated for the 180 clubs that requested aid.
The Irish Football Association received over £6.5m for its 77 clubs, while Golf Ireland received £4.2m.
The IRFU Ulster Branch received £2,235,530 to round off the biggest sums handed out.
Within golf, Royal County Down was awarded £1,526,452 while the Royal Portrush club got £757,638.
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said the support would help the sector to “cope with and recover” from the impact Covid-19 is having on them.
At the other end of the scale, the National Coarse Fishing Federation Ireland received just £994 in funding, while Archery NI was awarded £2,797.
Athletics NI, responsible for the Belfast City Marathon, received £225,631 in funding while Cricket Ireland received £330,119. Cycling Ireland requested £400,000 in funding but was handed just £14,518 in award.
Sport NI CEO Antoinette Mckeown said the funding was critical to “sustain and empower” the survival of clubs.
Within the list, Sport NI also showed how much individual clubs within some sports were awarded. The biggest winners within the Irish Football Association
were Crusaders FC, who were handed out £541,241.
Glentoran FC received £469,498 while Larne received £453,211. Champions Linfield were handed £426,754.
The decisions around which organisations and clubs have been funded has led to criticism in some quarters.
Gerry Carroll from the People Before Profit party questioned whether some “big organisations” should be getting the money ahead of others in society.
“Stormont has had a skewed approach towards big organisations and big businesses, whilst working class people, small businesses and sports organisations on the ground seemingly haven’t got adequate support,” he told the BBC.