O’Rourke hit by €28,000 cut

No David Gillick, Derval O’Rourke down €28,000 despite almost medalling at the recent European Indoors and €12,000 set aside for Kenny Egan despite him having announced his retirement from the ring back in February.

There are, at first glance, any number of sticks with which to beat the Irish Sports Council (ISC) after yesterday’s funding announcements for 2013 but the reality is somewhat more complex with the unveiling of what is a new high performance carding scheme.

The first thing to point out is that there is less money to go round, fewer athletes in the mix and less sports at the trough than was the case 12 months ago. Seven sports have been dropped from the individual scheme, in fact, and 66 athletes have disappeared from its roster.