Dublin, September 25: The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D., and the Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne T.D., today announced 1,996 grants with a total value of €230m for new and improved sports facilities and equipment throughout the country under the Community Sport Facilities Fund, formerly the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme.
Hockey clubs and schools have been granted over €3m to be used in upgrades of existing facilities as well as construction of new ones. This adds to the €733,000 that was awarded in May 2024, resulting in a total investment of over €3.7m across the 2023 scheme.
This funding is instrumental in supporting the growth in hockey, particularly in the case of the four brand new facilities that are proposed to be built in Kinvara, Nenagh, Waterford, and Galway. The increase in submissions from hockey demonstrates the requirements of the sport, and reflects the work being done by Hockey Ireland in creating partnerships and offering support to clubs and schools when creating and submitting applications.
Speaking at the announcement, Minister Martin said:
“Sport is vital to our sense of togetherness and community, from local clubs to professional and high-performance teams and athletes. Each and every one of these grants represents a project that will create a new or improved opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in sport to the best of their ability. Clubs will be better able to serve their communities with the help of this fund. For example, 194 clubs are getting funding to install solar panels, 317 clubs are getting funding for LED floodlights and 966 projects will include improvements to pitches.”
For more information on the Community Sport Facilities Fund, and to see the full list of allocations visit gov.ie