Sports grants: How did the GAA in east Cork fare?

Tue, 01 Oct, 2024 - 08:31

Jack McKay

The announcement of the government's Community Sports Facilities fund last week was well received – particularly by those involved in the GAA, who received just shy of a €97M slice of the €230M pie issued by the government.

For Cork as a county, a total of €27,692,369 went to various sports and clubs, a welcome boost for those involved irrespective of how you look at it.

Of that total, over €3.5M was issued to local and community sports clubs in the Cork East constituency, a figure welcomed by James O’Connor, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East.

The funding includes 15 of the 27 clubs within the Imokilly division, who received a total sum of €1,840,252. Of the GAA clubs in east Cork, Youghal GAA got the biggest chunk, a total of €189,516 for the installation of LED floodlights.

“This €250 million investment represents a 250% increase in funding compared with the previous 2020 round of funding, clearly demonstrating the priority Fianna Fáil places on encouraging and facilitating sporting participation and excellence,” says James O’Connor TD. “I'm delighted that €3.5 million has been announced for local and community sports clubs in my constituency of East Cork.

“It was wonderful to learn of the many clubs who applied for this important funding to keep upgrading their facilities for the local community, many of whom I have firsthand knowledge of the work that was put in for the application including Rathcormac Community Council, Fermoy GAA, Youghal GAA, Cobh Golf Club, Castlelyons GAA, Bride Rovers GAA, Youghal Golf Club, Midleton GAA and Midleton FC just to name a few.”

Paschal Donohoe, Ministers Catherine Martin and Thomas Byrne announced 1,996 grants with a total value of €230m for new and improved sports facilities and equipment throughout the country.

Interestingly, the figure of €189,516 that Youghal GAA received is greater than what Ladies Gaelic Football received across the entire country (€158,149).

The total figure of €1.84M received by GAA clubs in east Cork is also greater than what Camogie received – €1,017,542.

The point must be made – of the near €97M received by the GAA, both Camogie and Ladies football will be direct beneficiaries. That much is clear. Much of this is also dependent on who applied for the grant, and who didn’t.

But the total value of grants awarded to east Cork GAA is over twice what the entirety of Irish boxing received (€830,914), and almost €600,000 greater than what basketball received (€1,286,847).

Only five sports (excluding GAA) received more funding than the 15 east Cork GAA recipients combined.

They are:

Soccer (€41,400,230)

Golf (€11,423,015)

Rugby (€9,969,837)

Tennis (€6,579,430)

Athletics (€3,958,409)

Of course, the GAA is without a doubt the largest sporting body in Ireland by some margin – and at the end of the day, going to receive the greatest chunk of funding.

But does the disparity need to be so great?

How are other sports in the country supposed to grow without a certain level of financial support from the government?

Let’s take a step back from the GAA.

The coalition government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party awarded €95M in funding for the greyhound and horse racing industries in the budget last year.

The move was heavily criticised by the opposition parties and understandably so – given €18.2M of that figure went to directly greyhound racing, an industry that has repeatedly come under scrutiny regarding the ethical treatment of its dogs.

Meanwhile, Cork Renegades Baseball Club still haven’t got a club they can call home, and basketball and boxing were awarded a total of €2,117,761 from the sports grant, a figure over eight times smaller than what greyhound racing received from the budget last year.

Total list of grant allocations for GAA clubs in East Cork:

Aghada GAA Club - Facility developments & accessibility upgrades €141,190

Bride Rovers GAA Club - Floodlights for GAA Field €137,037

Carrigtwohill GAA Club - PV Solar Panels €17,285

Castlelyons GAA Club - Artificial sports pitch €145,343

Cloyne Hurling & Football Club - All weather pitch lighting walkway fence & carpark €166,106

Dungourney GAA Club - LED floodlighting to playing field and walkway €124,580

Erin's Own GAA Club - Upgrading of facilities €124,580

Fr O'Neill’s GAA Club - LED Flood Lighting €141,190

Glenville GAA Club - Glenville GAA Multi-Purpose Fitness/Dressing Room €123,729

Killeagh GAA - Killeagh GAA Sports Capital (previous allocation) €65,845

Lisgoold GAA Club - 2023 Pitch Drainage/Ball Stop Netting/Fencing/Mower €48,585