In June 2020 the Irish Government and Sport Ireland announced a €70M investment in the sports sector, of which €15M has been allocated to a Sports Club Resilience Fund for Republic of Ireland-based clubs. Cricket Ireland has been allocated €197K to distribute and applications are now open.
The scheme will be administered by Cricket Ireland following a robust grant application and assessment process. The Cricket Ireland Board will provide final approval of funds distribution in early 2021.
Detailed information, terms and conditions, and application forms for the Resilience Fund can be found on the Cricket Ireland website at www.cricketireland.ie/news/article/club-resilience-fund
The closing date for applications will be 20 November 2020.
Elaine Nolan, Participation Director at Cricket Ireland, said:
“The Coronavirus pandemic has hit us all hard, and it is a credit to clubs, volunteers, coaches, match officials and players that we saw the volume of grassroots cricket that we did, conducted in a safe and healthy manner. We are now delighted that cricket has been recognised as a sport that has suffered, and Sport Ireland is allocating funds to Cricket Ireland to support Provincial Unions and Clubs.”
“Our Provincial Unions and many cricket clubs have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 so we are delighted that Sport Ireland has made this significant sum of money available to ensure Provincial Unions and cricket clubs who may be in dire financial straits to can maintain operations and prepare for a return to productive activity in good financial health.”
“Working closely with our Provinces, the CI Board has agreed a robust application and assessment process that will aim to deliver funding outcomes to our hard-pressed clubs and provinces, details about which will be available through the Cricket Ireland website.”
“Applications will close at 9am, 23 November 2020, and we look forward to receiving applications. Once again, we would like to thank Sport Ireland for their support of cricket in Ireland.”
In news relating to Northern Ireland, the Department for Communities has recently announced a £15M COVID Relief Fund for the sports sector. We will provide further information as it becomes available: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/node/47376
