Dormant Accounts fund to provide €6.4m for sport

The GAA are to receive €625,000 from the Dormant Accounts Funding as Sport Ireland announced a spending package of €6.4m allocated by the Government for 2023.

The Dormant Accounts Funding allows unclaimed funds from accounts in credit institutions in Ireland to be utilised for projects focused on overcoming the barriers and challenges to participation in sport for those in diverse communities of gender, disability, sexual orientation, socio-economic background or ethnicity.

A dormant account is deemed to be an account that has shown no activity for 15 years.

This year's package for sport totals €6,416,500 and from it, funding will be provided to 40 different sporting bodies.

This is the second round of Dormant Accounts Funding allocated to sport this year, following an earlier investment package of €4.86 million, allocated for Local Sports Partnerships and Active Disability Ireland.

A dedicated €2.2m Local Disability Sports Fund has been put in place to fund local disability initiatives, while €1.7m will go towards Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund. Meanwhile a total of €575,000 has been provided to support initiatives to increase walking, running, swimming and cycling.

In terms of the sporting bodies, the GAA come out on top, receiving a total of €625,000 in funding. Of that total €430,000 will go towards local disability sport, €100,000 towards equality, diversity and inclusion, while there is €55,000 for volunteer supports and €40,000 for the Her Moves campaign, designed to keep teenage girls in sport.

Elsewhere there is €374,500 for Athletics Ireland, €330,000 for Swim Ireland, while Irish Sailing will receive €323,000 and Cricket Ireland will get €307,500.

The FAI have been granted €280,000, all of which will go