The Olympic Federation of Ireland today announced a significant investment in its member federations, dedicating a fund of €250,000 for 2019 to Olympic focussed projects across the Olympic cycle.
The OFI’s ‘Discretionary Funding’ programme was first introduced in July 2018. The 25% increase in funding for year two of the programme is being provided in addition to scholarship programmes and investments by the OFI to support athlete and team participation in Olympic events.
Olympic Federation of Ireland CEO, Peter Sherrard, announced the 2019 Discretionary Fund increase saying,
“We look forward to contributing 25% more funding this year to support Irish athletes and performance programmes at this important phase of the Olympic cycle. The 2018 applications demonstrated high levels of innovation and focus from our NGBs as well as the strong demand across Irish sport for additional resources.”
The 39 member federations of the Olympic Federation of Ireland will be invited to apply for funding of between €5,000 and €30,000 under one of three headings: ‘Make a Difference’ projects, ‘Performance Coach Support’ or ‘National Federation Olympic Development’ support.”
Member National Governing Bodies will have until April 4th to make applications and these will be reviewed by a five-person panel, including Sport Ireland and independent members in line with weighted criterion set out in the application.
In 2018 the Olympic Federation of Ireland provided grants to 19 projects under this funding stream.
The Discretionary Fund is designed to leverage existing funding going to NGBs from Sport Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and other sources.
Details of the application process for member National Governing Bodies can be found HERE.
