This week the Irish Sports Council published the annual grants to National Governing Bodies of sport in Ireland. The Irish American Football Association received an increase in its NGB Core Grant from €18,750 to €22,000 (+c.17%) and an additional €2,000 for its embryonic Women in Sport programme. The IAFA was the only sports organisation in the country to receive an increase in its funding for 2010 – there was an average cut of 5% across all sports.
A spokesman for the IAFA Board said that the IAFA “would like to thank the Irish Sports Council for their continued support of American football in Ireland. In the current Government budgetary situation, being singled out as the only organisation to have its funding increased is a massive vote of confidence in our development programmes and the work of the many volunteers involved in the sport across Ireland”.
The Irish Sports Council is an agency of the Government of Ireland which performs a range of tasks including distributing Government grants to NGBs, anti-doping programmes, child protection policy, high performance and support programmes.
Grant monies given to American football fund development programmes such as coaches certification courses, officials training courses, development grants and the flag football schools programme.