from Federation of Irish Sports Features in this issue
• BUDGET UPDATE
No decision to open a new round of the Sports Capital Programme (“SCP”) in the short term. Please read below for clarification of the €56 million allocation for the SCP in the 2009 Estimates. • MINISTER CULLEN RESPONDS TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS ON BUDGET
Minister Cullen responds to opposition commentary in the Dáil on Budget 2009. Please read below for more.
• STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & DISCIPLINE IN SPORT CONFERENCE
The conference which is being held in conjunction with the Law Society of Ireland will focus on how sporting organisations can better shape their structure & organisation so as to maximise the opportunities available to them. Please read below for more.
• SPORTS NATIONWIDE
Looking for additional media exposure? Sports Nationwide, Setanta Sport’s sport magazine programme is looking for sports to cover. Read below for more.
• UPTON COMMENTS ON SPORTS BUDGET
Labour spokesperson on Sport Mary Upton criticised the Government’s decision to slash the funding to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism by 22%, as a myopic soft option. Please read below for more details
• NATIONAL ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (“APA”) CONFERENCE
The third National APA Conference will be held 17th -18th November in Killarney. 32 speakers will address the conference on a range of issues dealing with inclusion of people with disabilities in physical activity, education and sport. Please click below
• SPORTS CLUB FUNDING AVAILABLE THROUGH DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
Grants of up to €1,00 are available to sports clubs located in Dublin City for projects in connection with youth sports. Read below for more.
BUDGET UPDATE
The Department of Arts Sport & Tourism has confirmed that the provision in the 2009 Book of Estimates in connection with the Sports Capital Programme (“SCP”) is to provide for grants already announced in previous programmes.
The Department confirmed that there is an outstanding “overhang” of almost €190m of previously announced grants. The provision in the Book of Estimates 2009 is not therefore new monies and there is no decision to announce a new programme in the short term.
MINISTER CULLEN RESPONDS TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS ON BUDGET
In response to opposition comments in respect of the allocation in Budget 2009 to the Department of Arts, Sport & Tourism, Minister Cullen made the following key points:
1. Sports Capital Programme
The Minister confirmed that a total of €56 million has been provided for the sports capital programme to meet costs from existing allocations in 2009 an amount he said would bring government expenditure in the past 10 years on sports facilities at local, regional and national level to €780 million.
2. Local Authority Swimming Pool Project
The allocation for the local authority swimming pool project in 2009 is €18 million. The Minister confirmed that the current round of the programme provides for 57 pool projects with 37 of those having been completed and open to the public, eight other pools are under construction and the remaining 12 at various stage of development. He confirmed that the government had invested €123 million in the programme over the past 8 years.
3. Irish Sports Council Funding
The Minister stated that the €53 million allocation to the Irish Sports Council remained significant despite the reduction from the 2008 allocation of €57.6 million. He noted that it represented a 300% increase on the 2000 funding level of €13 million. The Minister said that he was confident that the allocation will be sufficient to support the work of the ISC in maintaining existing programmes and to build on recent progress in all areas including local sports partnerships, Buntús, women in sport, older people and sport, youth field sports and the high performance programme.
4. Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund
The Minister stated that under the legislatively-based funding arrangements for the horse and grey hound racing sectors, the horse and grey hound racing fund would have expected an amount of approximately €80 million for 2009. He said that taking into account budgetary difficulties, an amount of almost €70 million is being provided. The Minister confirmed that a review of the fund is currently under way. He also said that the rationale of the fund has been that the horse and grey hound racing industries needed certainty in their funding support on a multi-annual basis and that such funding to develop the industries should be derived from the duty generated from off-course betting. The increase in off-course betting tax from 1% to 2% will he said, serve to significantly reduce, if not virtually eliminate in 2009, the amount of direct Exchequer subvention required.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & DISCIPLINE IN SPORT CONFERENCE
The conference entitled Sport & the Law: Shaping Irish Sport to be Fit for Purpose will be held on the morning prior to the Ireland –v- Argentina Rugby International on Saturday November 22nd from 9.30 am to 1 pm at the Radisson SAS, Golden Lane, Dublin 8.
The conference, designed for sports administrators and the legal professionals who advise them, will provide a comprehensive overview of the structural, governance and disciplinary issues facing sporting regulators. It will examine the challenges of modernising often-antiquated regulatory structures together with the opportunities that can arise once sport is fit for purpose.
The powerful line up of speakers features sports law specialists from Ireland and the United Kingdom , including Ian Lynam, David Casserly BL, Jonathon Ellis, Larry Fenelon, John Hogan, Keenan Furlong, Sarah Keane, Sarah O’Connor, Sarah O’Shea, Mike Scott and Beauchamps solicitors.
Practical Case studies of how these issue have arisen and been dealt with will also be provided. Sarah O’Shea, Legal Officer with the FAI will provide an insight into the recent restructuring of the FAI’s disciplinary structure with Keenan Furlong of A&L Goodbody showcasing how this was of assistance in litigation proceedings brought against the organisation.
Sarah Keane, CEO of Swim Ireland shall also present on the restructuring of that organisation, the challenges it faces as well as plans for future development. Maeve Buckley CEO of Platinum One will share her vision of some of the commercial opportunities available to sporting organisations.
A detailed outline of the Topics & Issues to be covered are available online by clicking here whilst a copy of the brochure can be obtained by clicking here.
Book your place at the conference:-
By Post:
Click here to download and print off a booking form. Please complete and return with payment to the CPD FOCUS Team, The Law School, Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7, DX 79 Dublin. Please make sure all cheques are made payable to the Law Society only.
Online:
To book online to attend this course please click here
By Telephone:
If you wish to pay by credit card, please contact a member of the Law Society’s CPD FOCUS Team at 01 881 5727.
It is advisable to book early as places are limited.
For Further Details contact: The Federation of Irish Sports, Tel 01 6251155, or email deirdre.hopkins@irishsports.ie
SPORTS NATIONWIDE
Sports Nationwide is a monthly magazine style television programme, shown freeview exclusively on Setanta Sports Ireland. The programme aims to spotlight quality sports stories and events around Ireland
• which deserve greater recognition,
• which have not been told before on Television,
• Or which serve as examples of the passion, commitment and the important contribution of sport in communities in Irish society.
Sports Nationwide will look at stories associated with women in sport, with sports for people with disabilities, with the contribution being made by newcomers, with youth sport including the Community Games, and with School Sports.
In the last four years GTV has covered over 90 sports for National and International broadcast. GTV produce monthly sports programmes for National broadcast as well as providing daily TV sports news service to clients.
If you have an event or sports story you would like to see featured on Sports Nationwide or if you have a good quality DVD, Contact:
Noel Keating Executive Producer 087-2211604 (after 2.30pm), nkeating@indigo.ie
Sallie McArdle Presenter/Producer 086-2354629, salliemcardle@yahoo.com
Leslie Graham: Director/Producer 086-8115873, info@gtvsport.com
Check Setanta Sports TV schedule at www.setanta.com
The programme is supported by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland Sound and Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme.
UPTON COMMENTS ON SPORTS BUDGET
Speaking in the aftermath of the Budget announcement Mary Upton stated;
“Total funding to the Department of the Arts, Sport and Tourism is down over €150 million. Even more serious, however is the decision to cut funding to the Arts Council and the Sports Council by 8%. The ability of these organisations to support the wider Arts and Sport community in every village and town has been gravely damaged”.
Upton also called into question the levels of funding to the Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund:-
“Conversely, the continuation of such a large grant to the Horse and Greyhound Fund will mean that they continue to gobble up a disproportionate amount of spending in this area, relative to the amount of people employed or participating in this sector”. Upton did say that she welcomed the increase of betting duty to 2% but stated that this would in fact have very little real impact due to the proportion of betting taking place online and the number of betting organisations which are not Irish resident for tax purposes.
Upton went on to say that;
“The glib assertion by Minister Cullen that these cuts in funding have “consolidated” Government spending in the areas of arts, sport and tourism clearly relegates this Department to the list of ‘also rans’ in the mind of this Government. The cultural and sporting values of our communities deserve better.”
Upton also outlined her belief that the paltry funding allocated to the National Sports Campus in the latest budget calls into question, the future viability of the project and the government’s commitment to its development. Speaking in this regard she said,
“The Government is only committing €4.4 million to the National Sports Campus Project in 2009. In last year’s programme for government there was a guaranteed commitment to further develop Sports Campus Ireland, including a commitment to a 25,000-seater stadium. Today this is clearly shown as nothing more than a pipe dream. Instead of a guaranteed commitment to support our athletes and the future development of sport in Ireland we have Minister Cullen announcing that he will be ‘reviewing the project … to see how best to take it forward.’ This is cutting a project by any other name.”
She said that in April contracts were signed for Phase One of this project which were then put on hold by the Minister in July. It seems clear, Upton said, that once again there will be no progress on the issue. She questioned the priority attributed by the government to spot when they are she said “ essentially cancelling the National Sports Campus, when they do not even know how many school PE halls there are in the country or has not been able to complete a National Audit of Sports Facilities despite promising this in the 2002 Programme for Government.”
She questioned where this left Ireland’s unique opportunity to benefit from the location of the Olympic Games in London. “How”, she said “can we be expected to attract countries to base their athletes here prior to the Olympics when we do not even have any world class facilities? It is Irish Sport that will suffer as once again this Government scores an own goal in supporting Sport.”
NATIONAL ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (“APA”) CONFERENCE
Location: Malton Hotel, Killarney, Kerry
Date: 17th Nov at 9:00 am to 18th Nov 2008 at 5:00 pm
The Institute of Technology Tralee in conjunction with the CARA Adapted Physical Activity (“APA”) Centre & the Irish Sports Council is to host its 3rd National Adapted Physical Activity Conference on the 17th and 18th November in Killarney.
The APA Conference features 32 speakers including a number of leading worldwide experts in APA will address the conference on a range of topics dealing with the inclusion of people with disabilities in physical activity and education, and sport.
To download an Application form and Programme click here
For more information:
Contact: Niamh Daffy CARA APA Centre on 066 7145646
Email: apaconference@ittralee.ie
Visit www.ittralee.ie/apaconference2008/ for further details.
SPORTS CLUB FUNDING AVAILABLE THROUGH DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
Sports Clubs operating within the administrative area of Dublin City Council and City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee are invited to apply for financial assistance from the Sport For Young People- Small Grant Scheme, which is funded by the Irish Sports Council and administered by the Dublin City Sports Network and Dublin City Council.
This is the first year of the scheme which replaces the grants previously administered by the C.D.V.E.C. Sports Advisory Council. A grant information booklet and application forms are available on request from Dublin City Council, Sport & Leisure Services Section, 159 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Phone: 01-2222270 www.dublincity.ie
The closing date for receipt of completed application is 4pm on Monday 17th November 2008.