The bulk of the 2025 Sport Ireland High-Performance Funding goes towards programmes being run by 16 sporting bodies and pathways programmes covering an additional seven.
We covered this side of the funding after the launch on Wednesday.
Yesterday, we spoke to Minister Patrick O’Donovan about Boxing within that funding envelope, despite the uncertainty about the IABA signing up to the Olympic-sanctioned World Boxing instead of the International Boxing Association.
Today, we spotlight individual funding, which will amount to €4.5 million this year.
€3.817 million of this goes towards the International Carding Scheme, where sporting bodies nominate the athletes in their programmes who have hit sufficient milestones to fall into the Podium, World Class, or International categories, or indeed the Relay / Pool element created in recent years.
This overall figure is slightly down on last year, taking into account a number of retirements after Paris. The Athlete Career Transition Fund has almost doubled to €239,000 on the same basis.
In total, 29 athletes have been put forward for the top level of €40,000 each, money that can be spent on expenses, additional coaching, or in a way that the athlete and their sport determines to benefit them.
Rowing is the best-performing sport, with nine athletes getting the €40,000 Podium funding. They are Paul Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Philip Doyle, Daire Lynch, Fiona Murtagh, Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney, Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen.
Ciara Mageean, Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Orla Comerford, and Chris O’Donnell are the five top-level athletes.
Lara Gillespie, Josephine Healion, Linda Kelly and Katie George Dunlevy join them from Cycling and Para Cycling.
Kellie Harrington, Aoife O’Rourke and Shannon Sweeney are the three boxers, Finn Lynch, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove the same number from Sailing.
Daniel Wiffen, Mona MacSharry, and Roisin Ní Riain are the three swimmers to reach the top level, and another 12 will qualify in the other categories.
Rhys McClenaghan is the only Gymnast on the top level but this year he is joined by five on the International level and with an additional €80,000 for pool funding.
The decision on which level is taken primarily by the sport and is based on the level of achievement as opposed to need. Some of the athletes are in semi-professional setups, and others are working full time, but the capacity to pay for basics like food and additional services are not taken into account.
Given the rising costs of living, there will have been pressure to raise the level of each band, but that would reduce the number of people who would benefit from the funding.
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Sport Ireland Core Funding for 2025
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
It is a tried and tested way of easing the financial burden on athletes but is rarely going to allow the kind of commitment needed at this level without recourse to sponsorships and private or family support.
That is, though, the nature of the game, and there is a greater nuance to the decision-making now that might have been the case ten years ago, when the numbers to benefit would have been smaller. That is progress.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
We will have conversations later today with High-Performance Chair Olive Loughnane
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