State aid to GAA for All-Ireland championships likely to be less than €15m

The GAA has estimated it would cost almost €20m to stage the senior football and hurling competitions but that figure may have since been revised down

Waterford's Dessie Hutchinson in action against Dan Morrissey of Limerick during last December's All-Ireland SHC final at an empty Croke Park. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

The GAA are expected to receive a smaller Government grant to run their championships than they did in 2020.

Sources say that while substantial funding will be forthcoming, it is unlikely to be to the scale of last year’s €15m subvention, described by principal officer of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Brian O’Malley at the time as a “once-off intervention… for disbursement in 2020”.