EIGHTEEN IRISH ATHLETES have been given top-level grants of €40,000 as part of the Irish Sports Council’s funding plans for 2013.
In total almost €1.7 million was allocated directly to 86 of the country’s top athletes out of an overall investment package of €33 million, announced today by the Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport Michael Ring TD.
In line with the International Carding Scheme Irish athletes are classified as podium (€40,000), world class (€20,000) or international (€12,000). The 18 “podium” athletes for 2013 are as follows:
- Athletics: Robert Heffernan
- Boxing: Katie Taylor, Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes, John Joe Nevin, Joe Ward
- Cycling: James Brown, Colin Lynch, Mark Rohan, Catherine Walsh
- Paralympics Ireland: Orla Barry, Michael McKillop, Jason Smyth, Catherine O’Neill
- Paralympic Swimming Ireland: Darragh McDonald, Bethany Firth
- Sailing: Peter O’Leary, Annalise Murphy
The total funding package includes €19.3 million for National Governing Bodies of sport, €5.1 million for Local Sports Partnerships and €8.6 million for High Performance programmes, the Sports Council said earlier today.
In addition, €275,000 has been allocated to the IRFU to go towards their bid to qualify a women’s team for the Rugby Sevens tournament at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
