Minister Hanafin Announces 2010 ISC Funding for GAA, FAI & IRFU

The Minister for Sport, Ms. Mary Hanafin T.D. today announced a package of €9.9 million to support the work of the GAA, FAI and IRFU in developing their sports with a particular emphasis on increasing levels of participation by young people.

The Irish Sports Council will support extensive participation programmes with €3.15 million for the GAA, €3.61 million for the FAI and €3.09 million for the IRFU. The sports will invest an estimated €25 million from their own resources in the sport development programmes, making a total of €34.5 million injection into sports development in 2010.

The Irish Sports Council began investing in the IRFU, FAI and GAA with the introduction of the Special Budget Measure in 2001 which was introduced with the specific aim of creating more opportunities for young people to participate in field sports. Over the past decade the three sports bodies have expanded their range of activities through extensive work programmes with communities, clubs, schools, referees and coaches.

At an event in AVIVA Stadium the Minister highlighted the work of the three organisations in bringing sport into communities throughout the country. Minister Hanafin said; "The scale and reach of the work of the GAA, FAI and IRFU is very impressive.

Increasing participation in sport at all levels and ages is a priority of this Government and the significant sum of almost €10 million ensures that the programmes being implemented by these NGB's can continue and in so doing make a very real difference to the communities where they are implemented, particularly in areas of social disadvantage."

John Treacy, CEO, Irish Sports Council; "The FAI, IRFU and GAA share the goal of increasing the numbers of people participating in sport in Ireland. They have the capacity to make a major impact on numbers taking part in sport and they provide significant investment from their own resources to all of these programmes".

With the IRFU the Council will invest €2.948 million for under-age participation and €150,000 for the Women in Sport Programme.

With the GAA the Council will invest €3.156 million to support the Grassroots to National Programme, Hurling Development and Dublin GAA. With the FAI the Council will invest €3.36 million to support the implementation of its Technical Development Plan and €250,000 to support its Women in Sport Programme.

These programmes are based on a shared ethos of developing the grass roots of the games, growing participation numbers and embracing communities outside of the traditional base of the sport. The Council funding supports detailed action plans which are implemented by the team of sports development officers in each sport.

In order to address the strategic imperative of increasing participation each organisation provides a comprehensive set of programmes that aim to develop the infrastructure of their sport. As well as a number of initiatives specifically aimed at bring young people into sport, there are also programmes that develop clubs and build links with communities. It is also essential to build the expertise of teachers, coaches and officials so that they can provide a quality experience for children and young people who become involved in sport.

Young People

• The GAA connects with young people in every community in Ireland through County Games Programmes, Camp Programmes and Academy Programmes.
• The FAI provides opportunities in sport for young people through Schools and Colleges Soccer, Summer Soccer Schools, Football for All Programme, Futsal, Soccer Sisters and Emerging Talent.
• The IRFU has overseen major increase in under age participation with 61,000 players involved in the Schools & Youth sections of rugby.

Schools

• The GAA have a relationship with 2,900 primary schools nationally which allows for the roll-out of Go Games, Youth Games and Primary School Coaching.
• The FAI has introduced Buntْs to 1,626 schools since 2006, in the process training 4,293 teachers on how to provide students with a quality introduction to football.
• 1,152 primary schools participated in IRFU programmes in 2009. Tag Blitzes encourage schools to offer rugby to their students.

Community

• The 2,610 affiliated clubs work are integral to their communities and the centre of the GAA.
• The FAI social inclusion activities allow people connect to football through a variety of programmes such as "Goal to Work", Night Leagues, Blitzes, Drop Ins, Street Leagues and the Anna Livia Cup.
• The IRFU's Community Rugby Development Programme is now in operation across all four provinces with a focus on linking participation initiatives to established clubs in the area.

Coaches

• The GAA Coach Education Programme is delivered by 42 Coaching Ireland GAA Tutor Trainers, 400 Tutors and 75 Code of Ethics Tutors. More than 50,000 coaches exist within the GAA system.
• There are 148 Coach Educators in the FAI and more than 22,000 qualified coaches.
• The IRFU Coach Education & Development Programme develops suitably qualified coaches to improve the overall quality of the domestic game.

Referees

• The GAA's Referee Education Programme covers Young Whistler, Young Referee, Referee Foundation and Referee Refresher Courses.
• There are 87 Referee Instructors in the FAI and 1,400 qualified referees.
• The IRFU Director of Referees is assisted by a Referee Development Officer in each province working to educate and develop suitably qualified referees to service the needs of the game in Ireland.

Code of Ethics

• The GAA has 75 Code of Ethics Tutors and has appointed a National Children's Officer.
• The FAI's Code of Ethics and Good Practice policy was published in 2009, a National Children's Officer has been in place since 2002 and it is mandatory in all leagues to appoint a Welfare Officer.
• The IRFU is promoting the Code of Ethics in all clubs and providing additional training to cope with the increase numbers in underage participants.