O’Brien welcomes €4,000 grant for Sports Clubs

Local Fianna Fáil Minister Darragh O’Brien has welcomed the announcement of a €4,000 flat rate grant for local sports clubs which ordinarily pay rates.

Minister O’Brien said this announcement would mean that rateable sports businesses, previously excluded from the SME grant scheme, would now be eligible for a grant payment of €4,000.

Minister O’Brien said, “This will be a welcome reprieve for some of our struggling sports clubs and businesses.

“As the country begins to reopen, these clubs and businesses are showing great adaptability, in adjusting to the ‘new normal’. They need support in doing so and this measure, along with others announced by Government as part of the July Stimulus, will go some way to helping them to get back on their feet.

“From the outset of this pandemic sports clubs, which are at the heart of our communities, played a vital role in responding to the crisis. They quickly mobilised and put in place a suite of supports, from outreach to older people, to delivering supplies and groceries to those who were cocooning.

“I want to recognise and thank them for the work they do in connecting our communities here in North Dublin,” he concluded.