Minister plays down talk of coalition tensions after sports grant leaks
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Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has played down talk of tensions between the coalition parties after some Fianna Fáil TDs broke the embargo on sports grant funding.
The announcement of the sports capital grants was embargoed until 11am on Wednesday morning but a number of Fianna Fáil TDs announced the funding allocated in their own local areas on Tuesday evening.
This led to some Fine Gael TDs expressing their annoyance that the information was leaked ahead of time, with some saying it was an intentional move by candidates to promote themselves ahead of a possible election.
One disgruntled Fine Gael source said Fianna Fáil would "want to wind their neck in", while another said they should not have to adhere an embargo if others do not.
When it was put to the Mr Donohoe the TDs who leaked the information had caused trouble, he downplayed the matter.
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He said while he would struggle to call such behaviour constructive, all parties were working well together.
"The very reason we are here announcing a package of this scale is because of all of the work the three parties have done together and from the engagement that I have had with all my colleagues.
"Here this morning, I think there has been a very broad welcome from all Oireachtas members for the package," Mr Donohoe said.
Fine Gael TDs emphasised they welcomed the funding received and believed investing in a wide variety of sports had a range of benefits for communities, as well as people's physical and mental wellbeing. Where they take issue is how the information on the grants was disseminated.
The second phase of the Community Sport Facilities Fund, formerly the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme, is the largest ever, coming in at €230m.
A total of 1,996 grants have been awarded for new and improved sports facilities and equipment across more than 40 separate sports.
Dublin will receive the greatest share of funding at €27.6m, followed by Cork with €24.7m — both counties will have 233 projects funded in this phase.
The GAA accounts for €97m out of the €230m on offer, more than double that awarded to soccer, which comes in second with €41.4m.
Lacrosse received the lowest amount of funding, with one project granted €7,000.
At the launch of the funding, Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne noted the performance of Irish athletes over the summer had inspired many young people to participate in various sports.
"The inspiring performance of Team Ireland at the Olympics and Paralympics recently in Paris demonstrated the positive power of sport and we understand that any sporting journey begins within the community," he said.
Mr Byrne was unable to provide an update on the proposed plan to use Cork's Páirc Uí Chaoimh as a venue for the Euro 2028 games.
"This is a decision that's taken at Uefa level. We have made our views known at that level through our officials and directly in my phone call with the FAI," said Mr Byrne.
"Our priority is to have as many games as possible on the island but ultimately that is not a decision that we take, it is taken at Uefa level but we are open for business and we want to do this."