Sport across Northern Ireland has been awarded £10.8 million (€12.5 million) from the first tranche of the Northern Ireland Sports Sustainability Fund.
An additional €15 million has been made available from the Stormont Assembly and will be announced at a later date.
The Irish Football Association is the biggest beneficiary with £6.5 million of an award. Ulster Rugby has been awarded £1.5 million and Ulster GAA a sum of £1.44 million.
Others to benefit include Ice Hockey with £407,000, Swim Ulster with £244,000 and Athletics NI with £225,000.
Another 18 sports including Triathlon, Hockey, Badminton, Canoeing and Cycling have been given sums ranging from £1,000 to £89,000.
“The sports sector has played a critical role in supporting communities throughout this pandemic and our sector is needed now, more than ever, to help our communities emerge from this pandemic,” said Antoinette McKeown, CEO of Sport NI.
“The Sports Sustainability Fund along with our other Covid 19 responses has enabled our local sports clubs, governing bodies and sports organisations to survive and prepare for a safe return to sport.”
Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson said the association is “really pleased” that football at all levels will benefit from the funding.
“I want to place on record our thanks to the Department for Communities and Sport NI, with whom we have worked closely over the last few months to secure this funding,” said Nelson.
“We have liaised with our clubs and leagues to ensure their applications are robust and properly planned with the relevant paperwork and documentation to accompany them.
“We set up a small internal task force before Christmas to help do this, holding webinars and communicating regularly on our own channels and directly with those who were making applications.”The funding allocated to Ulster GAA will help the organisation in its quest to rebound from the financial hardships posed by Covid-19 and will be vital to the re-establishment of delivery programmes that have been severely curtailed over the past year.”
“Ulster GAA has worked closely with Sport NI in relation to our submission and we are pleased to learn that our application for £1.44m has been successful,” added Ulster GAA CEO Brian McEvoy.
“This is a welcome development following a year in which we have been financially challenged and where our revenue streams will continue to be severely dented for a considerable period to come.”
“The applications of our constituent units remain under consideration and we anticipate that Sport NI will be in a position to allocate a further tranche of funding to successful applicants before the end of this month.
“Following on from the announcement earlier this week of ‘The Executive’s Pathway Out of Restrictions’ there is a growing positivity in the community and this latest development is another important driver in our recovery process.”
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