ISC backs committee decision to reject athletes’ funding

Brendan O’Brien

High-profile names such as Olympic semi-finalist and former European

Indoor 1500 silver medallist James Nolan, rower Gearoid Towey, Karen Shinkins, Paul Brizell and Gareth Turnbull were all unsuccessful The ISC yesterday refused to comment on the individual cases, but spokesman Paul McDermott replied to some of the more general issues raised this week.

One of those is the criticism that insufficient leeway has been allowed for athletes who suffer serious or long-term injuries.

Hurdler Derval O’Rourke found her grant cut by 3,000 after an Olympics that was hampered by suspected appendicitis.

That prompted former national athletics coach Jim Kilty to express his disgust that the Cork athlete did not qualify as a special case.

“The carding scheme, when it was brought in, ensured athletes would be covered for a two-year period and that should be more than enough, even for athletes who suffer major injuries,” said McDermott.

“In the past, we’ve had situations where athletes were injured for up to a year but during which time they were still covered and with another year in which to compete. Two years is more than a significant window.”

Concern has also been expressed as to the message being sent out to aspiring young athletes by the inability of some of Irish sports’ top names to secure government funding.

McDermott responded by insisting that the ISC was committed to supporting athletes at junior and developmental levels.

The ISC’s policy, he claimed, was to encourage National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to identify the best young talent in their fields at all times.

“Outstanding young talent will be supported.”

James Nolan’s former coach, Brendan Hackett, said yesterday that the carding scheme was a short-sighted system, one that appeared to suggest that, unless an athlete was producing A standard times or was in the top 16 in his sport, he/she would not receive government funding.

“The Athens Review recommended the focus must be more on the elite athletes in future,” said McDermott.

“We are always looking to nurture junior and developmental athletes through, but there comes a stage when, if progress is not being made beyond that, difficult decisions must be made. While regrettable, we have an obligation not to step back from those difficult decisions.”