Rowing Ireland tops table for Sport Ireland funding

Sport Ireland has today announced a multi-year funding package of €14.2m for Irish athletes in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, with Rowing Ireland usurping Athletics Ireland as the main beneficiary.

Rowing Ireland will receive financial aid totalling €3.9m in a four-year cycle, which began in 2021.

Paralympics Ireland will be funded to the tune of €3.7m, with Athletics Ireland (€3.365m), Hockey Ireland (€3.3m), Irish Sailing Association (€3.3m), Horse Sport Ireland (€3.1m), Swim Ireland (€2.9m), Cycling Ireland (€2m) and Golf Ireland (€2m) the next governing bodies in the pecking order in terms of funding.

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association's coffers were boosted by an injection of €770,000 from Sport Ireland in 2021, but funding for 2022-2024 has yet to be confirmed and will be only be decided on at the conclusion of an ongoing review and compliance with Sport Ireland's governance code.

Direct comparison to Sport Ireland funding for individual sports in the Tokyo Olympic cycle is distorted by additional payments made to governing bodies due to confirmed and unforeseen costs, not least those generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Athletics Ireland (€3.305m), the Irish Sailing Association (€3.07m) and the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (€2.94m) fared best in terms of original funding for the 2017-2020 period.

This year, Sport Ireland will invest €3.08m under the international carding scheme. This will support 112 athletes and 10 relays/squads, across 16 sports.

Today's announcement was also accompanied by the publication of Sport Ireland's Tokyo 2020 review.

Sport Ireland chief executive Dr Una May said of the funding package: "Sport Ireland's high performance strategy sets the bar high for our aims