€350,000 was received locally in last round of funding – one of the highest nationally
Fine Gael Local Representative for Ballymun, Glasnevin, Santry and Whitehall today urged local sports clubs to “get your finance committee togged out and get ready to put your best case forward for funding in 2014 as the Sports Grants Application process opens on January 17th at noon, now is the time to begin getting your ducks in a row and thinking about orfunding needs”.
Speaking about this, Noel Rock, who has previously advocated on behalf of many local clubs seeking funding, said: “It’s vital that we support local clubs and, last time out, this area did very well – seeing one of the highest totals in sports funding in the country with over €350,000 being received by clubs across Ballymun, Whitehall, Santry, Finglas, Beaumont, Glasnevin and Drumcondra. It’s a testament to the passion for sports that flows right through this area across GAA, soccer, rugby, tennis and a number of other sports”.
Mr. Rock continued: “Minister Varadkar, the Minister for Sport, was in the constituency a number of days ago with Ballymun Kickhams and he could see for himself the passion and support that the community here has for sports and how much funding our infrastructure could improve our outputs even further”.
“The level of funding in this round of the Sports Capital Programme is €40m and the last round saw a record number of applications, which I expect will be no different this time. However, last time our local clubs proved they could compete with anybody and came away with more Sports Capital Funding than most other parts of the country and, given the strength of some of the applications this time, I expect many of our local clubs to receive funding which matches their dedication and the clear positive impact they are having on their communities”.
Mr. Rock added: “The level of funding in the last round of the Sports Capital Programme was a testament to the great work done by local sporting organisations in the area and the Government decided then to match the dedication in Beaumont, Whitehall and Glasnevin with funding. I hope that we can achieve the same positive outcome this year, and I am already working with a number of sports organisations to achieve positive outcomes and am available to work with any club who might need a bit of a hand: my door is always open, as I want to see the best possible outcome for our community and for those of us who love sport and taking part in it”.