Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Applications are eagerly anticipated for the large-scale sports infrastructure fund by regional sporting organisations. I am trying to find out when the Minister expects this fund to open. Sport plays a huge role in people's lives and one such sports club is Sligo Rovers Football Club in my area. The Acting Chair will know how important it is to the community. It is a community-based football club with a long and proud history. It is one quarter-owned by the people of Sligo and is supported by people in Sligo, in the north west, from Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Donegal, and by people all over Ireland. Only last week I was asked by a man in Ennis, County Clare, to get him a Sligo Rovers hat. That is how football is appreciated around the country.

Sligo Rovers Football Club got the final grant of planning permission for a state-of-the-art stadium and related facilities. It is hoped all of these will be in place for the club's centenary in 2028. There is huge support from the local authority and the FAI. It will be a UEFA category 3 stadium. What that means is that there will be 6,000 multipurpose-seat stadium with a restaurant, pharmacy, crèche, gym, doctor's surgery, club house and offices. It is hoped it would host Republic of Ireland underage matches and when the League of Ireland has an off-season, it could be a location for provincial rugby matches given this new hybrid surface, which is 95% grass and 5% artificial.

Sligo Rovers Football Club is owned by the community and it is the cornerstone of the League of Ireland. I see what is happening in the capital city. Bohemians Football Club has a €40 million-plus development. It is getting public funding and Dublin City Council is very much part of that. Shamrock Rovers Football Club has a brand-new stadium that is effectively owned and run by South Dublin County Council. I do not begrudge those clubs their success.

We have a women's senior team in Sligo. We are fighting against the odds. I pay tribute to the players, supporters, volunteers and the wider community because it is a regional club. It is not privately-owned and it is one of the last fully-owned supporter's clubs in the country. When this fund is up and running, we want parity of esteem in the west and north west and we want public funding to match this incredible and exciting innovative development that will bring a lot of joy and hope to Sligo and the north west.

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