John Costello: ‘If Dublin got the full €56m, it wouldn’t be enough’

Those who beat Dublin with the “big population” stick were at it again recently when the Government’s €56m capital sports grant programme was announced, says the county’s salaried chief executive John Costello.

Ten Dublin GAA clubs topped out with the maximum grant of €150,000 — only one club outside the capital received that amount — but Costello believes such carping conveniently ignores the capital’s issues of scale.

“I know that if Dublin alone got the full €56m allocation, it would still not be enough for the sporting needs of juveniles alone in this city. There are a number of factors which are unique to Dublin clubs and sporting organisations, but let’s look at this from a GAA perspective. I am aware that land cannot be bought from these grants but, as mentioned elsewhere in this report, the cost and [lack of] availability of land is a critical factor in this county and this has a knock-on impact across the finances and facilities of every single club.”