National Sports Campus - Phase I

Friday, May 15, 2009


Today the planning application for phase one of the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown was published.

This planning application, if approved – will provide for;

A National Indoor Athletics Training Centre;
A multi-sport national Indoor Training Centre;
A National Gymnastics Training Centre;
Sports Science and Medical facilities;
Accommodation for sportsmen and women;
An all-weather synthetic pitch for local access; and
A National Field Sports Training Centre


Provided that individual members of the local community as well as local sporting groups will have affordable access to these facilities, I believe that this will represent an important boon for the people of Dublin 15. The chance to use top of the range facilities will surely give local kids the chance to achieve their sporting best.

Furthermore, once the facility is developed there will be a regular flow of our leading sports men and women through the campus. This presents an ideal opportunity for local schools and sports clubs to bring our national sport stars to meet the young people of Dublin 15, and to present positive role models.

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Only 1% for Fingal from Arts Council

Tuesday, May 5, 2009


Arts council grants were published last week. Despite being Ireland’s fourth most populous county council, grants from the Arts Council to Arts groups in the Fingal area amounts to less than 1% of the total.

Fingal County Council is the fourth most populous area in the country, and represents just shy of 6% of the national population. Based on that, you would expect a relatively high allocation of funding to the area. However, the latest grant figures show that only four out of 347 grants were made to bodies in Fingal, and the total amount of such grants - €312,000 – equates to just .5% of the total €58million allocation.

The arts in Fingal deserve to be supported on an equal basis to anywhere else in the country. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case as demonstrated from these figures. I believe this is indiciative of a general trend whereby Fingal does not get a fair slice of central government funding.

Arts Council Grants:
County Organisation 2009
Fingal County Council Coisceim/Cosanic Teoranta €50,000
Fingal County Council Draiocht Ltd / Blanchardstown Arts €162,000
Fingal County Council Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre €70,000
Dublin Fingal County Council €30,000

Fingal County Total €312,000
National Total €58,494,080

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