Hockey Ireland will receive one third of an additional €1.5 million funding announced on Monday for Olympic and major competition preparations .
The board of Sport Ireland confirmed the allocation of additional high performance funding for 17 national governing bodies for sport.
The funding will be used to assist preparations for major competitions including the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and key World Championship events.
Monday’s announcement sees €500,000 being allocated to Hockey Ireland to assist both teams in realising their Olympic ambitions. Following Ireland’s women’s team reaching the Hockey World Cup final in London, the sport has demonstrated it now has two teams with realistic aims of qualifying and competing in Tokyo 2020.
World Cup
Speaking about the bump in funding for Hockey Ireland, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross said he had "no doubt" the sport would "continue to build upon their remarkable successes of recent years."
Chief executive of Sport Ireland John Treacy said the additional funding was “very good news indeed.”
“Obviously hockey are being rewarded for their fantastic achievements, second in the world is fantastic,” he said, adding there was a “huge cost” to taking teams to a World Cup.
“We don’t want any of the sports to be in deficit, particularly when they are doing so well,” he said.
Pre-competition camps
In order to ensure athletes and teams are adequately prepared in advance of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, pre-competition camps are planned in both 2019 and 2020.
There are significant costs associated with these vital activities and as such additional funding has been allocated to the Olympic Council of Ireland (€175,000) and Paralympics Ireland (€100,000).
In total 17 organisations will benefit from this injection of funding with allocations ranging from €20,000 to €500,000.
The Department of Sport said that a further €250,000 in additional capital funding for high performance equipment will be provided from savings in the Sports Capital Programme.I t will be allocated to Rowing Ireland and the Irish Sailing Association's high performance programmes. The Irish Sailing Association will be allocated €160,000 and Rowing Ireland will be allocated €90,000. They have directed that the process for allocation of this funding be expedited.
Additional funding for high performance sport
Hockey Ireland - €500,000
Horse Sport Ireland - €175,000
Olympic Council of Ireland - €175,000
Paralympics Ireland - €100,000
Gymnastics Ireland - €75,000
Swim Ireland - €75,000
Athletics Ireland - €50,000
Irish Athletic Boxing Association - €50,000
Confederation of Golf in Ireland - €40,000
Cricket Ireland - €40,000
Cycling Ireland - €40,000
Irish Sailing Association - €40,000
Rowing Ireland - €40,000
Triathlon Ireland - €30,000
Badminton Ireland - €25,000
Irish Judo Association - €25,000
Irish Taekwondo Association - €20,000
