Higgins seeks funding support package for local sports clubs

A city councillor has called on the Government to put a financial package in place to help local sports clubs to ensure their survival is ensured once the world begins to return to some kind of normality following Covid-19.

Cllr Clodagh Higgins (FG) has sent a message to An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, urging him to save local sports clubs; and she has called on the Department for Transport, Tourism & Sport – and ‘caretaker minister, Shane Ross – to stump up funding to support local sporting clubs so their survival is ensured post-Covid 19.

She said club sponsorships are down, because businesses are struggling to get-by during the coronavirus pandemic, and other sources of income has dried up.

“Clubs are hugely concerned and it is imperative that we protect our sporting community in Galway because we need to ensure their sustainability because they provide essential amenities to our youth and represent the future of sport in Ireland,” she said.

“We must not forget that at the onset of the pandemic, clubs willingly played their part and adapted to the challenges with some of them going beyond the call of duty, volunteering their facilities to the health authorities.

“I know of some senior club members who are providing grinds to second level students and volunteering with various Covid-19 voluntary groups. The essence of community is best represented by our sports clubs and we need to help them adapt to the further challenges they face and ultimately, help them survive.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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