Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to look at renewing this funding programme. I will outline what the allocation to the Renville sports and community grounds meant to a community like Oranmore. This project is a joint one by the local Oranmore Maree GAA club, the camogie clubs and the Naomh Mhuire ladies football club. Between them, they field an impressive 90 teams. They plan to construct a sports centre of excellence in Renville Oranmore on a 34-acre site to include four new playing pitches and a covered terrace as well as community facilities like a public playground and walkway.

They were allocated €2.1 million in 2020 under the large scale sports infrastructure fund to develop these facilities and more than €1 million has been raised locally. This is just one community of 10,000 people who would never have been able to provide such an ambitious facility without the support of the large scale sports infrastructure fund. I ask the Taoiseach to give other communities around the country the same opportunity the Government gave to the Renville sports facility and Maree GAA club in Oranmore. I strongly urge the Government to reintroduce a new large scale sports infrastructure fund grant scheme in the forthcoming budget.

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