Catherine Martin to seek 'significant' extra funds for women's sport in next budget
Sports Minister Catherine Martin speaks during a Republic of Ireland Women's World Cup 2023 send-off event at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Sports Minister Catherine Martin has said she will seek "significant" additional funding for women's sports in the upcoming budget negotiations.
Ms Martin made the announcement at a farewell event for the women's international football team, who will travel to Australia in the coming days to represent Ireland in the Women's World Cup.
The minister said it would "absolutely" form part of her negotiations with Finance Minister Michael McGrath and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.
"It's a major priority for myself and Minister [Thomas] Byrne," said Ms Martin.
Addressing the players afterwards, Ms Martin confirmed it would be for "significant" additional funding.
"I feel that the impact this team has made, along with our other female sports stars, can inspire the next generation of young girls in their chosen sports," she said.
"If we are to continue to make progress, we need to make sure that adequate resources are available.
Ms Martin also announced there will be an additional €500,000 provided to support women's football across the country.
The funding itself will be spent as part of efforts to increase participation.
Mr Byrne said: "It will really be going into participation and trying to get more people involved and making the opportunities to get involved much easier for young girls.
"We're hoping that this funding will help that participation increase."
Ms Martin added that the achievement of the team is important for the visibility of younger generations.
"It's so important what they're doing on the visibility front because young girls simply cannot be what they cannot see," she said.
"They're increasing that visibility."
The event, which took place in Farmleigh House in Phoenix Park, saw manager Vera Pauw and members of the team praised for their achievements.
The team to travel to Australia on July 7 was announced last Wednesday. The first game will be against hosts Australia on July 20.
The team was praised for their achievement in qualifying for the World Cup, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying that they have become "part of Irish sports history".
"I think you're all going to play a very powerful role promoting the sport across the country," he said.
"While this is Ireland's first appearance at the World Cup, I know now that it is just the start, and that we'll see many more Irish women following in your footsteps in future tournaments, not least the Euros in two years' time."
The Taoiseach added that there will likely be a huge turnout of Irish people living in Australia at their upcoming games.
Manager Vera Pauw said it is important that young girls now can have role models outside of the male game.
"They don't have to lean on role models in the male game, they have these women instead," she said.
She added that the team has received lots of support in recent years.
"We hope that we can meet some expectations, that we at least make you proud," said Ms Pauw.
"We know that it will be very tough for us, but we will do everything in our power to get the result."
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