Kehoe blasts trolls over ‘vitriolic’ tweets on Golf Club
WHEN Minister Shane Ross announced Sports Capital funding of €150,000 for the re-surfacing of a hockey pitch at Wesley College, a private school in his constituency, he couldn’t have predicted the level of controversy it would provoke. While Minister Ross would have believed he was breaking good news, many saw it as a disgraceful use of government funding on a school that commands exorbitant fees for students to attend.
This was just the beginning, however. In this neck of the woods, Minister Paul Kehoe was also under fire after he announced that Enniscorthy Golf Club had received €58,000 under the sports capital programme. What followed were some pretty strong and abusive tweets directed towards the Enniscorthy TD. One commentator asked how the government could justify making funding available for the club given the fact that it charges over €600 per year in membership and ‘has over 600 members on its books’.
Speaking last week, Minister Kehoe explained that the 2017 round of the Sports Capital Programme (SCP) closed for applications on February 24. By the closing date, a record number of 2,320 applications seeking €155million in grants were received. Initially a total of €60million was allocated to various projects and Enniscorthy Golf Club was not among them.
However, those applicants who were unsuccessful were then invited to appeal the decision and Minister Kehoe says that no changes were made at Ministerial level from the grants recommended at official level.
‘For the first time ever, clubs across the country were encouraged to appeal decisions made under this grant system,’ Minister Kehoe explained. ‘Enniscorthy Golf Club was one of 149 bodies that decided to take this step and I am delighted their efforts have been rewarded. The works in question are necessary to ensure a better sporting experience for elderly members, local school students and athletes from the CWCW Special Olympics Club in Enniscorthy, who are facilitated free of charge on the course.’
In relation reaction the announcement received, Minister Kehoe believes that most of the abuse levelled at him comes from outside of the county. ‘The negative reaction from certain anonymous users of social media to the awarding of this grant is unfortunate, but not surprising,’ he said. ‘I note that much of the abuse levelled at both me and Enniscorthy Golf Club is from individuals who aren’t even from Wexford and don’t use the sporting facilities in the county. Every club that submitted a valid application was awarded funding. This amounted to 65 clubs in total, including Enniscorthy Golf Club. Clubs in Wexford across a multitude of sports benefited to the tune of over €1.9 million.’
‘I absolutely accept fair criticism and take it on board,’ he continued. ‘But some of the reaction on social media has been both personal and vitriolic.’
‘I don’t intend to engage with these online trolls who are clearly misinformed as to how the Sports Capital Programme operates.’