Sports Funding in NI

[brokencrossbar1]

Er, IL matches don't reflect the entirety of football in NI, or anything like it.

More to the point, as well as GAA, Football and Rugby, "sports clubs and organisations" encompasses hockey, athletics, boxing, swimming, golf, tennis, badminton, bowls, cricket, motor sports, netball, gymnastics, equestrian, cycling, basketball, disabled sports and any number of others which I can't bring immediately to mind.

Are you claiming that GAA encompasses 40% of ALL sport in NI?

I don't think anyone is claiming that or anything close to it but I find it interesting that you're quoting everything except the substantive point.

Personally, I have no idea if GAA units own 40% of the facilities that aren't owned by the local councils or hired from Universities, schools or elsewhere but it's fair to say, with the exception of Golf clubs, that a much higher percentage of GAA clubs own their own facilities than those organisations you mention.

I genuinely, hand on heart, do not know of a single GAA club that doesn’t own its own field apart from the newer clubs in Belfast. I am sure there are some but outside of east Belfast GAA and Greencastle Wolfe Tones I know of none. The continuity of the GAA within a community, the generational family connections and the actual structure of the organisation as a whole has meant that it has organically evolved into the strongest sporting structure on the island. This is something which cannot be understood by navel gazing unionists

[Evil Genius]

Er, IL matches don't reflect the entirety of football in NI, or anything like it.

More to the point, as well as GAA, Football and Rugby, "sports clubs and organisations" encompasses hockey, athletics, boxing, swimming, golf, tennis, badminton, bowls, cricket, motor sports, netball, gymnastics, equestrian, cycling, basketball, disabled sports and any number of others which I can't bring immediately to mind.

Are you claiming that GAA encompasses 40% of ALL sport in NI?

I don't think anyone is claiming that or anything close to it but I find it interesting that you're quoting everything except the substantive point.

That was the clear implication of Eammonca's post, both with his IL dig, and the overall tone of this thread, which is comparing GAA, Football and Rugby.

The hardship fund is to cover overheads and maintain facilities.

Personally, I have no idea if GAA units own 40% of the facilities that aren't owned by the local councils or hired from Universities, schools or elsewhere but it's fair to say, with the exception of Golf clubs, that a much higher percentage of GAA clubs own their own facilities than those organisations you mention.

Except that the fund is not intended only for sports organisations which own their own premises, or even weighted towards them.

As I pointed out, it is for the benefit of literally thousands of clubs and organisations, covering dozens of sports and activities, with numbers of participants who must reach six figures (when you count people who play more than one sport).

To claim that GAA's "share", whether measured by clubs or membership, amounts to 40%  of the overall, is quite simply ludicrous.

[brokencrossbar1]

The key question is how does the grants awarded compare to the grants applied for across the board, what are the comparators?  If the amount of applications were higher by GAA clubs than the others then there would be an automatic higher percentage of the grants paid out to GAA clubs. These figures are bare and not contextualised. For simple maths, 100 grants available, GAA clubs apply for 60, soccer  Clubs 30, rugby clubs 10. 70% of all grants are funded. GAA get 42 grants, soccer 14, rugby 7. GAA will undoubtedly get more money even though the terms of the grant making process is the same. That’s how it works.

[tyrone86]

Er, IL matches don't reflect the entirety of football in NI, or anything like it.

More to the point, as well as GAA, Football and Rugby, "sports clubs and organisations" encompasses hockey, athletics, boxing, swimming, golf, tennis, badminton, bowls, cricket, motor sports, netball, gymnastics, equestrian, cycling, basketball, disabled sports and any number of others which I can't bring immediately to mind.

Are you claiming that GAA encompasses 40% of ALL sport in NI?

I don't think anyone is claiming that or anything close to it but I find it interesting that you're quoting everything except the substantive point.

That was the clear implication of Eammonca's post, both with his IL dig, and the overall tone of this thread, which is comparing GAA, Football and Rugby.

The hardship fund is to cover overheads and maintain facilities.

Personally, I have no idea if GAA units own 40% of the facilities that aren't owned by the local councils or hired from Universities, schools or elsewhere but it's fair to say, with the exception of Golf clubs, that a much higher percentage of GAA clubs own their own facilities than those organisations you mention.

Except that the fund is not intended only for sports organisations which own their own premises, or even weighted towards them.

As I pointed out, it is for the benefit of literally thousands of clubs and organisations, covering dozens of sports and activities, with numbers of participants who must reach six figures (when you count people who play more than one sport).

To claim that GAA's "share", whether measured by clubs or membership, amounts to 40%  of the overall, is quite simply ludicrous.

http://www.sportni.net/funding/our-funding-programmes/sports-hardship-fund-2/

What we’ll fund

The fund has been developed to help sport and physical recreation organisations meet their obligations, in particular fixed costs, which are no longer supported with revenue as a result of coronavirus. This might cover expenditure on:

Rent/Lease
Heat
Light
Utilities
Water Rates
Essential grounds/facility maintenance (to maintain a state of readiness)
Some Insurance (essential building/contents insurance, public liability, pro-rata)

[Franko]

See Northmans post.

You refer to it as though it's now "Case closed".

But while it offers interesting insight it still doesn't constitute conclusive proof - see eg my post of 18.26 today.

You got to love the desperation of this.  He picks up a couple of second hand headline figures, offers no context, strongly implies that there has been impropriety going on... and then demands that the other side provide "conclusive proof" that it hasn't.   

This is a wind up and should be treated as such.

[imtommygunn]

Yeah it's really poor to be honest. Nolan wouldn't be in it.

[the colonel]

Further detail below.... The original programme was vastly oversubscribed and closed after a couple of days. It was then re-opened. Who was succesful in the first tranche was more likely down to who got their application earliest. There was no deadline on the second tranche and I don't think a report on succesful applicants has been produced yet.

http://www.sportni.net/funding/our-funding-programmes/sports-hardship-fund-2/

http://www.sportni.net/sportni/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SHF-Summary-10.08.20.pdf

[brokencrossbar1]

Further detail below.... The original programme was vastly oversubscribed and closed after a couple of days. It was then re-opened. Who was succesful in the first tranche was more likely down to who got their application earliest. There was no deadline on the second tranche and I don't think a report on succesful applicants has been produced yet.

http://www.sportni.net/funding/our-funding-programmes/sports-hardship-fund-2/

http://www.sportni.net/sportni/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SHF-Summary-10.08.20.pdf

So Gaelic sports made you 26% of the applications and got 30% of the payments with a 51% success ratio application to payment, soccer made up 22% and got 24% of the funds with a 48% ratio of success. Non story here.

[Baile Brigín 2]

More whinging:

DUP MLA expresses ‘considerable concern' over sports hardship fund going to GAA

A DUP MLA has expressed concern over a reported 40% of a hardship fund for sports clubs going to the GAA.

The Hardship Fund for Sport was launched by the Department for Communities to support sports clubs and organisations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The £500,000 fund distributes grants of up to £2,000 to help organisations meet essential overheads and maintain their facilities during lockdown.

However high demand saw the fund close to new applications within days.

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley said he had “considerable concern” with allocations so far, claiming that 40% of the funding has been awarded to the GAA.

He claimed this “is grossly weighted”, and asked what consultation had been held with sports organisations and what consideration had been given to equality across sporting sectors.

Communities minister Deirdre Hargey responded, saying the demand had been unprecedented.

“It’s not enough money to meet the need and obviously we don’t have enough money to meet all of the need that is out there, but we did move quick with Sport NI and also the Sports Forum, which represents a variety of sports organisations in terms of the delivery of this fund,” she said.

“That scheme was launched, everyone got the same information at the same time… obviously the demand has been unprecedented, we had to suspend it because we just need to look at assessing the applications that are in and we will see what money can be made available.

“I take no role in terms of the assessments of applications.”

In response to a question from Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, Ms Hargey added she would like to get the hardship fund “started again as soon as possible if I can get the money available to me”.

40% going to the GAA sounds about right to me. Unionists just have a hard time understanding how popular the GAA is. Maybe they think GAA matches are like those Irish League matches that are attended by two men and a dog.

Now look at participation numbers...

[oakleaflad]

More whinging:

DUP MLA expresses ‘considerable concern' over sports hardship fund going to GAA

A DUP MLA has expressed concern over a reported 40% of a hardship fund for sports clubs going to the GAA.

The Hardship Fund for Sport was launched by the Department for Communities to support sports clubs and organisations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The £500,000 fund distributes grants of up to £2,000 to help organisations meet essential overheads and maintain their facilities during lockdown.

However high demand saw the fund close to new applications within days.

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley said he had “considerable concern” with allocations so far, claiming that 40% of the funding has been awarded to the GAA.

He claimed this “is grossly weighted”, and asked what consultation had been held with sports organisations and what consideration had been given to equality across sporting sectors.

Communities minister Deirdre Hargey responded, saying the demand had been unprecedented.

“It’s not enough money to meet the need and obviously we don’t have enough money to meet all of the need that is out there, but we did move quick with Sport NI and also the Sports Forum, which represents a variety of sports organisations in terms of the delivery of this fund,” she said.

“That scheme was launched, everyone got the same information at the same time… obviously the demand has been unprecedented, we had to suspend it because we just need to look at assessing the applications that are in and we will see what money can be made available.

“I take no role in terms of the assessments of applications.”

In response to a question from Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, Ms Hargey added she would like to get the hardship fund “started again as soon as possible if I can get the money available to me”.

40% going to the GAA sounds about right to me. Unionists just have a hard time understanding how popular the GAA is. Maybe they think GAA matches are like those Irish League matches that are attended by two men and a dog.

Now look at participation numbers...

They would be the wrong numbers to look at. Walking/running would be extremely popular but the vast majority aren't in actual clubs with premises. I'd be surprised if many grants were applied for from walking clubs. 5-a-side counts as participating in soccer etc.

[Main Street]

More whinging:

DUP MLA expresses ‘considerable concern' over sports hardship fund going to GAA

A DUP MLA has expressed concern over a reported 40% of a hardship fund for sports clubs going to the GAA.

The Hardship Fund for Sport was launched by the Department for Communities to support sports clubs and organisations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The £500,000 fund distributes grants of up to £2,000 to help organisations meet essential overheads and maintain their facilities during lockdown.

However high demand saw the fund close to new applications within days.

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley said he had “considerable concern” with allocations so far, claiming that 40% of the funding has been awarded to the GAA.

He claimed this “is grossly weighted”, and asked what consultation had been held with sports organisations and what consideration had been given to equality across sporting sectors.

Communities minister Deirdre Hargey responded, saying the demand had been unprecedented.

“It’s not enough money to meet the need and obviously we don’t have enough money to meet all of the need that is out there, but we did move quick with Sport NI and also the Sports Forum, which represents a variety of sports organisations in terms of the delivery of this fund,” she said.

“That scheme was launched, everyone got the same information at the same time… obviously the demand has been unprecedented, we had to suspend it because we just need to look at assessing the applications that are in and we will see what money can be made available.

“I take no role in terms of the assessments of applications.”

In response to a question from Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, Ms Hargey added she would like to get the hardship fund “started again as soon as possible if I can get the money available to me”.

40% going to the GAA sounds about right to me. Unionists just have a hard time understanding how popular the GAA is. Maybe they think GAA matches are like those Irish League matches that are attended by two men and a dog.

Now look at participation numbers...

They would be the wrong numbers to look at. Walking/running would be extremely popular but the vast majority aren't in actual clubs with premises. I'd be surprised if many grants were applied for from walking clubs. 5-a-side counts as participating in soccer etc.

Baile Brigin has already been informed on numerous occasions that when it comes to  state support for sport,  participation in organised sports is the premium,  sport organised in a  membership club based scenario that is constituted. If this germane information does manage to enter into one ear, it exits the other immediately. BB then resorts to repeating the default mantra with Animal Farm gusto , 'what about the participation figures ' as he/she parrots the old 5 a side participation argument, the lunchtime kickabouts with jumpers for goal posts.