The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
IMMENSE disappointment has been expressed in Kilrush at the unsuccessful grant applications submitted by Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council for Sports Capital Grants. The grant applications, which totalled €453,924, were for the development of a sports complex on the Cooraclare Road in Kilrush.
Last week, it was announced that a total of €731,000 was allocated to 22 sport organisations in Clare from the Sports Capital Grants for 2012.
The June 2011 meeting of Kilrush Town Council heard that the proposed facilities were to include AstroTurf pitches on the grounds of Kilrush Community School and playing pitches across the road, in what is known as the Christian Brothers’ Field. The local GAA, rugby and soccer clubs had been consulted, the meeting heard, while a playground and skateboard park may also form part of the proposed sports park at the ESB Moneypoint sports facilities. The provision of a cross-country running track has also been mooted.
However, news that the complex will not be grand-aided in the 2012 round of Sports Capital Grants is a huge blow to the project.
“Both Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council applied for grants under the Sports Capital Grants announced last week. However, both applications were, very disappointingly, unsuccessful,” Kilrush town clerk John Corry confirmed.
Clare County Council applied for a grant of €175,416 in respect of the proposed development of two training pitches (100m x 80m) and one full-size playing pitch.
“It was proposed to be a multi-purpose/shared facility and was to be used by a variety of sports clubs, including soccer, GAA, ladies’ football, rugby, baseball and schools. It was felt that currently there was a scarcity of good-quality playing facilities in and near Kilrush and this results in teams having to travel out of the town for training and playing purposes,” the town clerk explained.
“It was proposed that the development of this facility would mean that clubs would be able to encourage greater participation in their respective, sports as they would have modern, accessible and excellent-quality facilities. These facilities were proposed for lands on the Cooraclare Road, which have been leased for this purpose from the Department of Education by both Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council,” Mr Corry added.
Kilrush Town Council applied for a grant of €278,508 in respect of an artificial playing surface (75m x 38m), together with floodlighting and security fencing.
This facility was also to be used by all local sporting organisations. Mr Corry told The Clare Champion that he has contacted the relevant department in an effort to seek an explanation as to why the grant applications were unsuccessful.
“I have sought feedback from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport as to why our applications were unsuccessful and I am awaiting details of same,” he said.
Kilrush town councillor Liam Williams, who announced details of the proposed sports complex plan during his year as Kilrush mayor, has also expressed his disappointment at the news.
“We are disappointed. We had significant plans to develop sports facilities. Now we’ll have to look again at our plans and see how we can move forward. We have to look at various avenues and also contact the Sports Capital people and see how we can re-focus the application,” he said.
The town and county council now have the options of applying for funding from the Clare Local Development Company’s LEADER programme and the 2013 Sports Capital Grants.
In November 2011, plans to develop the sports complex were put on hold due to a lack of funding.
However, Nora Kaye, Clare County Council, told the meeting of West Clare’s six county councillors at the time that she had met with LEADER to discuss a possible application for funding in 2012 if money wasn’t forthcoming from other sources.
