LOI hits Immigrant Investment Programme jackpot with payouts to Kerry, Sligo and Shelbourne

A general view of Mounthawk Park in Tralee, Kerry. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Further windfalls through the Immigrant Investment Programme (IIP) have been announced for Kerry FC and Sligo Rovers in the wake of fellow League of Ireland club Shelbourne banking €9.2m for the Tolka Park rebuild.

Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry, Michael Cahill, has welcomed confirmation from Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan, that €5.2 million has now been formally signed off under the scheme for a major redevelopment and facilities upgrade project at Mounthawk Park.

Correspondence submitted to Deputy Cahill by Kerry FC general manager Sean O’Keeffe outlined the significant social and economic benefits the development would bring to the local community, while also supporting the continued growth of football for both male and female players in Kerry.

“This investment will help provide first-class sporting facilities for the people of Kerry and will play a central role in supporting the continued rise and development of Kerry FC in the years ahead,” Deputy Cahill added.

The investor programme. also known as the Golden Visa Scheme by granting non-EEA citizen investors residence in Ireland, was controversially scrapped in February 2023.

In that same year the FAI had earmarked the stream as integral to their 15-year €863m infrastructure programme designed to modernise the game in terms of facilities.

Nine League of Ireland clubs were said to be in the IIP process before it was shut down by then justice minister Simon Harris.

Sligo Rovers are to receive €6m from the pot. They were successful 18 months ago in obtaining €16.4m from the government's Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) but this injection will bridge the €7.1m gap required to complete their planned 6,129-capacity Uefa Category 3 regional multi-sport venue at the Showgrounds.

“This is a great day for Sligo Rovers,” Sligo Chairman Tommy Higgins told Shannonside FM.

“We’re eagerly waiting at the doorstep for the official letter in the post from the Minister but this will allow us to crack on with our development. There’s still a lot of work to do with tenders.”