Sporting bodies team up to voice cuts concern

SEVENTY Irish sporting bodies — including the GAA, FAI and IRFU — have come together to demand that the government does not impose any further cuts on the Irish Sports Council.

An Bord Snip has recommended that another €17.7m be shaved from the Irish Sports Council’s budget later this year. The body has already seen a reduction of 11% per cent in its funding in 2009.

Sports officials yesterday warned that such a reduction, would have a catastrophic effect on the sector in Ireland and would reverberate right up from grass roots to elite levels.