Sports Funding in NI

[Evil Genius]

"An Ulster Unionist MLA has called for equality of funding to sports bodies after official figures revealed Ulster GAA received almost five times more from Stormont in the past three years compared to the Irish Football Association.

Rosemary Barton said Department for Communities figures show that Ulster GAA received over £3m from the department and Sport NI, with the IFA receiving £648,888 and Ulster Rugby £701,289.

"This means that Ulster GAA received almost 2.5 times more than the other two sporting bodies together and almost five times more than that of either Ulster Rugby or the Irish Football Association," she said."
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ulster-unionist-mla-rosemary-barton-queries-gaas-larger-slice-of-sport-funding-pie-39445089.html

Discuss.

[JoG2]

"An Ulster Unionist MLA has called for equality"

 

The times they are a changing

[Rois]

What was the proportion of applied for funding versus funding granted?
You can’t give funding to people who don’t ask for it.

[Rossfan]

Seeing as the GAA got nothing from 1922 to the mid 1990s.....

[Evil Genius]

What was the proportion of applied for funding versus funding granted?
You can’t give funding to people who don’t ask for it.

I could maybe see one or other of the two sports being disorganised when it comes to applying etc, but both?

Doesn't seem very likely to me, esp since Ulster Rugby, at least, should be getting prompting from HQ (Dublin), to make sure their funding applications are up-to-date in NI.

[Rois]

What was the proportion of applied for funding versus funding granted?
You can’t give funding to people who don’t ask for it.

I could maybe see one or other of the two sports being disorganised when it comes to applying etc, but both?

Doesn't seem very likely to me, esp since Ulster Rugby, at least, should be getting prompting from HQ (Dublin), to make sure their funding applications are up-to-date in NI.

So are you  implying that there is a bias within Sport NI  towards the GAA in allocating the funding at the expense of the other organisations? I just can’t see that being allowed to fly. GAA clubs are very VERY good at applying for grant funding, and always have projects in the pipeline, they learn from each other.

[brokencrossbar1]

Every sporting organisation has an entitlement to apply for funding. A better question would be whether or not funding was denied to one sporting organisation over another? 

Also it would be interesting to see where the funding was going to?  I would imagine that the GAA would have a lot of capital investment funding for grounds development etc. That has generally higher levels of money involved and also requires that the club/county applying for the funding matches a significant amount of the funding, or actually has the money in the bank and the funding is released in retrospect.

I would doubt that there is an uneven approach to funding being granted, rather that GAA clubs are better at it and looking for higher amounts.

[6th sam]

Every sporting organisation has an entitlement to apply for funding. A better question would be whether or not funding was denied to one sporting organisation over another? 

Also it would be interesting to see where the funding was going to?  I would imagine that the GAA would have a lot of capital investment funding for grounds development etc. That has generally higher levels of money involved and also requires that the club/county applying for the funding matches a significant amount of the funding, or actually has the money in the bank and the funding is released in retrospect.

I would doubt that there is an uneven approach to funding being granted, rather that GAA clubs are better at it and looking for higher amounts.

Also , Gaa clubs are almost unique in that they are community organisations  as well as sporting ones . A lot of the funding they receive is for community halls, gyms, play areas. There are very few rugby clubs by comparison , and like soccer , rugby don’t draw their players from one locality , and therefore are not steeped in the community. GAA clubs tend to contribute heavily to their local community compared to soccer/rugby. Their hunger for voluntary work for their community also results in them investing heavily in applying for funding and in organising match funding.

[delgany]

GAA, IFA & Ulster Rugby, usually collaborate on Funding seminars with respect to funding streams via SPORT NI,  across the North.

[imtommygunn]

Yeah I very much doubt there is anything to see here other than a headline

[RadioGAAGAA]

The IFA couldn't organise a piss up in James' gate, so disregard soccer. Sure most of them play on council pitches and have little more than jerseys to their name.

There aren't the same number of rugby clubs as GAA clubs, so while they are organised, they are never going to have the same throughput of funding.

Rois statement is correct - You can’t give funding to people who don’t ask for it.

[6th sam]

Orange or Community halls in unionist areas receive funding in the same way as GAA community halls.
Comparing soccer, rugby or indeed basketball or netball funding with GAA funding doesn’t give the full picture

[Rossfan]

No but it's a great excuse for a Sectarian whinge

[Evil Genius]

No but it's a great excuse for a Sectarian whinge

How could anyone bring Sectarianism into it?

Sure isn't the GAA in the north [sic] entirely cross-community?

I mean, you can hardly move in your local GAA club these days for Ghanaian Fishermen and Linda Ervine....

[brokencrossbar1]

No but it's a great excuse for a Sectarian whinge

How could anyone bring Sectarianism into it?

Sure isn't the GAA in the north [sic] entirely cross-community?

I mean, you can hardly move in your local GAA club these days for Ghanaian Fishermen and Linda Ervine....

What are your opinions on the funding?