[Sport] Sport in Northern Ireland receives further £10.5m funding from NI Executive

[_Happy boy]

Northern Ireland's sporting bodies have been allocated a further £10.5 million in support through the Executive's Sports Sustainability Fund.

Sport NI's announcement of the additional funding for the sporting sector brings the total investment through this specific fund to £22.4m.

Over 230 clubs will benefit from the latest grants announced on Monday.

Among the sports to receive funding are gaelic games, rugby union, golf, cricket, hockey, sailing and angling.

Golf Ireland has confirmed that it is to receive £4.2m to be allocated among 26 golf clubs in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile 23 cricket clubs across Northern Ireland will receive more than £330,000 following a successful joint submission between Cricket Ireland, North West Cricket Union and Northern Cricket Union.

Sport Northern Ireland has announced the allocation of £4.2m in funding for golf clubs as part of the Northern Ireland Sports Sustainability Fund.

Creating a pathway for the return of sport
The Sports Sustainability Fund, launched in December, is designed to support bodies and clubs who have been impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

It was set up to help support sport to emerge from Covid-19, with Sport NI working with the Department of Communities and other Government departments to create a pathway for a return to sport in Northern Ireland.

As part of the first £10m package awarded in early March, the Irish Football Association received just over £6.5m, with just under £1.5m for the GAA's Ulster Council and a similar amount to Ulster Rugby.

Deirdre Hargey, Communities Minister, said: "I am pleased to report that these much needed funding awards are continuing to issue.

"They will help provide the sector, including grassroots clubs, with the financial support it needs to ensure it can cope with and recover from the impact of the Covid restrictions and the ongoing challenges the pandemic is presenting."

Antoinette McKeown, Sport NI CEO, said "The value of sport is never more important for us all as a society, as we tentatively emerge from Covid-19.

"The sports sector has played an invaluable role in supporting our communities through this pandemic, and this funding is critical to sustain and empower the survival of Governing Bodies and clubs to get us all back to sport".