2009 SPORTS GRANTS: Although the Government's core funding has taken a drop compared to recent years, it could have been much worse, reports Ian O'Riordan

THEY MAY not be forced out of business, but the majority of Ireland’s National Governing Bodies of Sport are counting their losses after the Government’s core funding for 2009 was announced yesterday. It is a sign of the times and marks a clear reversal of recent years where funding had steadily increased.

The funding amount announced yesterday is down from €12,043,183 last year to €11,471,339 for 2009 – a drop of just under five per cent.

There aren’t any drastic cuts and several of the 57 governing bodies survived unscathed, but with even tougher economic times ahead, there will be a definite tightening of the belt all round.

The money is distributed by the Irish Sports Council, and the governing bodies rely on this funding to run their sport from one year to the next, including all administration, coaching and development programmes; without such support, most simply wouldn’t survive.

Among those that find themselves notably short changed compared to last year are Horse Sport Ireland (down €50,000), Tennis Ireland (down €21,705), the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (down €9,986), Cricket Ireland (down €22,500) and Special Olympics Ireland (down €284,919).

There are only very few exceptions: Cycling Ireland sees its core funding increased by €12,365, due to the extra injection of €31,315 to roll out its Mountain Biking Coaching Framework in conjunction with Coaching Ireland; and Triathlon Ireland gets an extra €30,000 to part fund a new chief executive position on an all-Island basis, with investment also coming from Sport Northern Ireland.

There is also one very significant absentee: Athletics Ireland, which traditionally gets the largest core funding of all (after Special Olympics Ireland), has yet to receive any allocation for 2009.

Last year Athletics Ireland got €1,300,048 to fund its main activities, which at the time included a Director of Athletics and Director of Coaching.

However, there have been some conflicts with the Sports Council over the filling of those positions, which have been vacant since after the Beijing Olympics.

John Treacy, chief executive of the Sports Council, said earlier this week that there were “some critical issues that need to be sorted” with Athletics Ireland and they are “still negotiating with them at the moment”.

Athletics Ireland will meet again with the Sports Council over the next week in the hope that agreement can be reached on those positions, but clearly the pressure is being put on them, and rightly so.

The key Director of Athletics position was set to be filled last November but remains vacant, which has obvious implications for the development of the sport in the build-up to the London Olympics in 2012.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association find themselves in a slightly similar position. While they did receive their core funding of €209,936, it is short €45,526 on the €255,462 allocated last year.

That amount was intended to cover the costs of recruiting a new chief executive, but that appointment hasn’t yet been made either.

According to a spokesperson for the Sports Council, the additional boxing funding will be made available once the chief executive position has been agreed.

Yet as with Athletics Ireland, the Sports Council have become a lot more wary about handing out money before these keys positions are actually filled.

Treacy also indicated earlier this week that the Sports Council “would be spreading the pain a little bit” when it came to the core funding, given the drop in their own Government allocation for 2009. As announced in last year’s Budget, funding to the Sports Council was reduced from €57.631 million to €53.026 million, a €4.6 million drop, or around eight per cent.

A separate element to the governing bodies core funding is the Women in Sport programme, which was introduced in 2005 to help initiate a range of projects to attract women of all ages into sport. There are currently 25 governing bodies with such a programme (four were dropped from last year), and they’ve been allocated grants totalling €1,525,396 million – again a drop on the €1,602,593 handed out last year.

While the 2008 core funding saw an increase of 4.5 per cent across the board on the previous year, 2007, the cuts in the 2009 funding could probably have been worse, given the Government’s worsening economic situation.

But the warning signs are out there: there is less money floating around and the governing bodies of sport need to keep their house in order if they want to maximise their share.

2008 2009 +/-

€€€

Badminton Ireland401,150379,192-21,958

Basketball Ireland650,050650,0500

Baton Twirling Sport Ass of Ire15,25015,2500

Road Bowling30,42220,422-10,000

Bowling League of Ireland35,45028,000-7,450

Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland64,212 64,2120

Handball Association134,575127,846-6,729

Cricket Ireland450,000427,500-22,500

Croquet Association of Ireland4,1754,200+25

Camogie Association207,000187,000-20,000

Ladies Gaelic Football220,296220,2960

Cycling Ireland 303,700316,065+12,365

Horsesport Ireland 1,039,217989,217-50,000

Golfing Union of Ireland 131,143 110,000 -21,143

Horseshoe Pitchers Ass of Ire5,8505,8500

Irish Amateur Archery Ass25,50025,5000

Irish Amateur Boxing Ass 255,462209,936-45,526

Irish Fencing Federation28,40028,4000

Irish Amateur Rowing Union203,886193,900-9,986

Irish Amat Weightlifting Ass17,40017,4000

Irish Amateur Wrestling Assn20,00016,500-3,500

Irish American Football Ass 18,75018,7500

Irish Blindsports55,50045,500-10,000

Irish Canoe Union289,500280,250-9,250

Irish Deaf Sports Association81,25071,250-10,000

Irish Gymnastics169,545169,5450

Irish Hockey Association274,182270,908-3,274

Irish Judo Association82,00082,0000

Irish Ladies Golf Union51,000 51,000 0

2008 2009 +/-

€€€

Irish Martial Arts Commission25,00025,0000

Irish Olympic Handball Ass40,00040,0000

Irish Orienteering Association52,800 52,800 0

Irish Sailing Association334,019334,0190

Irish Squash227,050215,000-12,050

Irish Surfing Association69,95069,9500

Irish Table Tennis Association111,100111,1000

Irish Tae Kwon Do Union21,10021,1000

Irish Tenpin Bowling Ass 25,10025,1000

Irish Tug of War Association 32,94022,940-10,000

Irish Underwater Council 65,10565,1050

Irish Waterski Federation13,50013,5000

Irish Wheelchair Association281,125281,1250

Motor Cycle Union of Ireland85,25078,600-6,650

Motor Sport Ireland150,000150,0000

Mountaineering Council of Ire227,000227,0000

National Community Games315,000308,845-6,155

Shooting Sports Ass of Ire35,45035,4500

National Karate 13,50011,500-2,000

Pitch and Putt Union of Ire79,87273,433-6,439

Racquetball Ass of Ireland17,40017,4000

ROI Snooker and Billiards Ass100,56987,569-13,000

Special Olympics Ireland2,849,1882,564,269-284,919

Speleological Union of Ireland26,05026,0500

Swim Ireland 890,000890,0000

Tennis Ireland436,000414,295-21,705

Triathlon Ireland40,00070,00030,000

Volleyball Ass of Ireland214,250214,2500

Total: €12,043,183 €11,471,339