There has been substantial talk in the last 24 hours of Dublin GAA’s funding and how it has given it a significant competitive edge on the field of play.
Paralells have been drawn to the Premier League in football where the bigger the bank balance the greater the likelihood of success. Of course the ability to buy the best players may have something to do with that and this is an area where Dublin does not have any advantage.
The real benefit comes from the population imbalance which has one third of the population of the country living in the capital.
Catering for them having an interest in and a capacity to play Gaelic Games is an expensive business. Most GAA Club members in Dublin shrug at the sense that there is a financial unfairness to being in Dublin as they struggle to maintain land for pitches while occasionally visiting clubs in surrounding counties that have the kind of space, pitches and clubhouse facilities that most Dublin clubs will only ever dream of.
Offaly’s centre of excellence at Faithful Fields, pictured above is a long way ahead of any similar facility in Dublin.
When in the midst of a period of dominance it always seems as though it will last forever. The same sense of ‘not them again’ has been felt in Kerry and Kilkenny though the added salt of it currently being Dublin does add to the sense of injustice.
Dublin can still only field 15 players against 15 in either the Men’s or the Women’s game. At Electric Ireland Minor Championship level Dublin last won an All Ireland back in 2012. The five years since then have all been won by Kerry. Sometimes you just get a particular set of players and a particular management set up that breeds success.
Our colleagues in 2Into3 with whom we work closely on events helping clubs and sporting organisations get the most from fundraising and grant application have prepared an analysis of how the Urban / Rural divide looks in terms of the Sports Capital Grant programme and there is certainly no bias towards Dublin in this.
“Allocation of 2018 funding has been divided, for the first time, into two tranches,” said Darren McMahon of 2Into3.
“Applications for equipment-only were assessed and allocated first, with an announcement made in May.”
“The applications for capital (infrastructure), or a combination of capital with equipment, will be allocated in September according to recent public statements.”
“In the recent May announcement, only the top 75 per cent (by score received under the (DTTAS) Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport guidelines) of applications received funding, whereas in 2017 round every valid application received some funding.”
“In addition, the trend of allocating more funding, on a per capita basis, to areas outside Dublin was more pronounced as illustrated in the table below.
“In recent years, the Sports Capital Programme made headlines over political intervention and prioritisation of more favoured sports in ministerial backyards, particularly in Dublin<‘ continued McMahon.
“However, an examination of the previous local rounds of the Sports Capital programme shows that Dublin consistently lags behind the rest of the country, despite a plethora of cabinet ministers, and a Taoiseach, in the greater Dublin area.”
“With the 2018 equipment round the gap, on a per capita basis, between Dublin and the rest of Ireland has widened significantly.”
“Dublin clubs, in total, sought over €19.6 million from the local fund of the 2018 Sports Capital Programme. Outstanding 2018 applications are expected to be announced in September, with a new round expected to open in November.”
In 2018 Sport for Business and 2Into3 hosted workshops in Dublin, Cork and Athlone helping over 100 clubs and a number of National Governing Bodies to get themselves ready for this most recent fund.
We will do similar in the autumn of 2019 based on demand from clubs and governing bodies. If you would like to take part in these seminars please email us today quoting Sports Club Roadshow 2019 and we will be in touch as soon as the dates and locations are finalised.
