PERFORMANCE PROJECTS
Athlete performance is supported by a number of projects within the Olympic Federation of Ireland. These projects are funded through a combination of OFI Sponsorship revenue and Olympic Solidarity funding.
Discretionary Fund
In line with our Strategic Plan 2018-2024, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has made a ‘discretionary fund’ available to National Federations to support Olympic focused projects across the current Olympic cycle (up to Tokyo Summer Games 2020). This fund was established in 2018, and to date €530,000 has been distributed to National Federations for performance based projects:
The ‘discretionary fund’ is aimed at providing support for projects in the following areas:
- National Federation Olympic Development Support
- Performance Coach Support
- ‘Make a Difference’ Projects
The purpose of this programme is to provide additional funds to the National Federations towards specific Olympic focused projects and programmes. This is over and above the funding the OFI will provide to support costs associated with sending athletes and teams to compete in Olympic events and support provided to members through Olympic Solidarity Projects/Programmes funding.
Olympic Solidarity Scholarships
There are summer and winter scholarships available to athletes aiming at senior games each cycle. Currently 17 Irish athletes are in receipt of scholarships.
Winter Scholarships:
In February 2020 the Beijing Winter Olympic Solidarity Scholarships announced seven scholarships worth $65,500 USD ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 2022.
The total bursary amounts to $40,500 in core scholarship funding which is paid in monthly installments, and a combined pot of $25,000 in available travel support grants that can be drawn down following the qualification period. The funding is provided through the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme.
The following athletes were successful:
| Tess Arbez | Snow Sports – Alpine Skiing |
| Maggie Rose Carrigan | Snow Sports – Alpine Snowboard |
| Cormac Comerford | Snow Sports – Alpine Skiing |
| Brendan Doyle | Skeleton |
| Seamus O’Connor | Snow Sports – Snowboard Freestyle |
| Alec Scott | Snow Sports – Alpine Skiing |
| Thomas Westgaard | Snow Sports – Cross Country Skiing |
Summer Scholarships:
In May 2022 fifteen athletes were awarded Olympic Solidarity Scholarships to assist with the qualification and preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics, in addition the men’s hockey team was awarded a scholarship to assist with their qualification efforts.
Each of the scholarship recipients will receive approximately $625 per month up until the Paris Olympic Games. A scholarship of $100K / $25K per anum was also been awarded to Irish Hockey to assist the women’s national team.
The following athletes were successful:
