Funding welcomed but Ross’s timing criticised
€500k of extra €1.5m goes to hockey following World Cup heroics
A THIRD of the €1.5million extra funding for sports in Ireland announced by Shane Ross last week will go to Hockey Ireland.
But as welcome as the extra funding is, Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy questioned why he appears – in his opinion – to ‘only do his job when he has an audience’.
The party’s spokesman on transport, tourism and sport, also questioned the timing of the funding allocation. ‘The women’s hockey team has been in need of additional funding for a while, but the minister was apparently powerless to do anything,’ he said.
‘I welcome the additional funding provided by Minister Ross but it is a pity the minister can only do his job when he has an audience.’
The Labour Party, meanwhile, has attacked the various strings attached to the funding, namely that it has to be spent by the end of the year.
When he first mentioned the extra funding in Dublin Airport as the Irish women’s hockey players arrived home following their World Cup final heroics, the Sports Minister’s announcement was slated as a PR stunt.
Mr Ross’s eagerness to be associated with the World Cup silver medal winners was likened to the appearance of Charlie Haughey at the Champs-Élysées to congratulate Stephen Roche on winning the 1987 Tour de France.
At the time he announced funding would be forthcoming, he said a ‘substantial’ amount would go towards Hockey Ireland.
And sure enough, some €500,000 will go to hockey. Yesterday, the minister announced the allocation of €1.75million in additional funding for high-performance sport.
The funding will be allocated to national governing bodies and other sporting bodies to assist athletes’ preparations for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020. Mr Ross also intends to allocate an additional €250,000 in capital funding for high-performance equipment.
This funding has been allocated from savings in the Sports Capital Programme and will be allocated to Rowing Ireland and the Irish Sailing Association’s high-performance programmes.
The Irish Sailing Association will be allocated €160,000 and Rowing Ireland will receive €90,000.
Senator Kevin Humphreys, the Labour spokesman on sport in the Seanad, told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘I think the money should be allocated to allow the bodies to spend it as they see fit, to be able to make the investment as they need it rather than being held to these false deadlines.
‘To arbitrarily give them the last five months of the year to invest is just unacceptable. I think really the problem here is that the minister is not interested in his brief, and hasn’t been for the last two years. That’s why we’re seeing him make these knee-jerk reactions when these stories break. He hasn’t been proactive at all in identifying areas where our sports stars can be successful.
‘He’s simply reacting to their success and as a result, the bodies are not getting the funding they need when it’s needed.’
Funding received by Sport Ireland from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for 2018 is €51.6million. Funding for 2019 has not yet been allocated to Sport Ireland, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the promotion, development and co-ordination of sport.