Revealed: Where €150m in sports grants are going

Olympic gold medalists Paul O'Donovan, left, and Fintan McCarthy of Skibbereen Rowing Club, which will receive a €66,000 injection in funding under the new capital grants. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

A record €150m has been provided for the government's Sports Capital and Equipment Programme, with Cork clubs behind a range of Olympic athletes among the recipients.

Tourism, Sport and Media Minister Catherine Martin announced the new capital grants on Friday, including a €66,000 funding boost to Skibbereen rowing club and €290,000 for Bandon Athletics Club, among the Cork awardees.

Olympic gold medalists Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan, silver medalist Gary O'Donovan, and bronze winner Emily Hegarty, all come from the Skibbereen production line, while sprinter Phil Healy of Bandon AC was the first female Irish athlete to compete in three events in Tokyo last summer. 

Some €144m is allocated to almost 1,900 applications with €6m kept in reserve for successful appeals lodged by unsuccessful applicants.

Here's the breakdown in Munster where grants are totalling to over €3m across a range of sports. They are broken down by county, organization, project title and provisional allocation.

Clare	Clare Camogie	Training Pitch upgrade/drainage & ancillary works	35,411
Clare	Clare District Soccer League	Grant to build Ladies Dressing Rooms	59,347
Cork	Bandon Athletic Club	Outdoor 6/8 lane athletics track & field facility	290,000
Cork	Cobh Ramblers Football Club	Upgrade of Club Facilities & Equipment	300,000
Cork	Cork Camogie Board	Flood Lighting	121,945
Cork	Cork County Council	Mallow Community Running Track and Sports Ground	150,000
Cork	Cork Institute of Technology	Outdoor equipment for Athletics Track	42,811
Cork	Cork Rugby Stadium Designated Activity Company	Upgrading of existing floodlighting installation	300,000
Cork	MFA Football Ltd	Dressing Room Refurbishment	19,760
Cork	Rowing Ireland (IRISH AMATEUR ROWING UNION LTD)	Urgent facility upgrade at NRC	70,079
Cork	West Cork Schoolboys Soccer League	West Cork Schoolboys Emerging Talent Program	3,560
Kerry	An Riocht Athletic Club	An Riocht Participation and Sustainability Project	138,631
Kerry	Kerry County Council	Killarney Skateboard Park (2021)	133,188
Limerick	Limerick GAA	Kilmallock Rd Campus (formerly St Enda's)	241,296
Tipperary	Cashel Handball Club	Phase 2a of masterplan of Regional Handball Center	127,147
Tipperary	Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club	Outdoor Walking/ Running Track, Multi Use Area	248,851
Tipperary	St Joseph's College	Astropitch Development and Fitness Room	245,229
Tipperary	Tipperary County Board GAA	Tipperary GAA Dr Morris Park Dressing Rooms	300,000
Waterford	Waterford Institute of Technology	Development of 2.5 Km walking/jogging track	210,607

By the closing date for applications last March, just over 3,100 applications had been submitted seeking over €200m in funding, the highest number of applications ever received.

All unsuccessful applicants will be given the opportunity to appeal and information on the appeal process will issue to relevant organisations in the coming weeks.

Over 30 sports and activities are represented, ranging from competitive, track and field games to walking.

The minister said the grants would significantly improve facilities around the country.

“Sport is crucial for all communities in Ireland," Ms Martin said.

There was a record number of applications for these grants and the government responded with the most significant level of individual awards ever.

“It has been a tough two years for many sports clubs but the pandemic really demonstrated the importance of sport for our collective wellbeing. 

"The grants we are announcing today will significantly improve sports facilities in every county. 

"There is a huge variety of different sports covered and I was particularly pleased that the scoring system placed an even greater emphasis on female participation," Ms Martin said.

"I want to thank all of the volunteers associated with these clubs for their tireless work and their commitment to improving their facilities to benefit all members.”

More than 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.1bn.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South West Christopher O’Sullivan said he was "excited" about what the allocation means for grassroots sports in his area.

“Skibbereen Rowing Club, home of our Olympic legends, has been allocated significant funding for increased capacity, boat storage and training facilities there," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"Bandon will be home to west Cork’s first ever, proper, state-of-the art athletics track."