Louth GAA confident of having new stadium open in 2024 thanks to €14.8m ‘cash for visas’ windfall

Peter Fitzpatrick hopes the 2024 Louth senior football final will be played in the county’s perpetually stalled new stadium, after the Wee County landed a €14.8 million windfall from the Government’s cash for visas scheme.

“This has been our dream and now it is about to become a reality,” said the Louth chairman.

Louth GAA are set to benefit from 37 foreign donors each pledging €400,000 to fund the construction of the stadium in Dundalk. The funding is to be attained through the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), for which donors receive residency in Ireland.

“We said we had a Plan B, and this was it. A huge amount of work has been put in on this over the last few months,” added Fitzpatrick. Meath GAA also went down this route last year and are believed to have raised around €2 million in funding for their stadium redevelopment, so Louth have been far more successful in securing contributions.

Championship 2024: This weekend’s football and hurling fixtures, throw-in times and TV details

---

Dean Rock: Louth could show Kildare what a proper team looks like

---

Cork and Kilkenny ring the changes ahead of vital hurling matches

---

Joe Canning: Cork have even more questions to answer than Clare

---

Given the escalation of building costs, Fitzpatrick estimates the overall cost of the new stadium will now be around €20 million, but Louth aim to put the job out to tender over the coming weeks and for work to start in early 2023.

“We think this will be an 18-month turnkey job and if everything goes to plan we would hope to have the 2024 Louth county final take place at the new stadium.”

WHAT IS THE IMMIGRANT INVESTOR PROGRAMME?

It is a residency by investment scheme, essentially a cash for visas programme, that is available to non-European Economic Area nationals who are willing to invest in Ireland and who fulfil certain requirements.

WHAT REQUIREMENTS?

Individuals who can prove a minimum personal net worth of €2 million. They must also prove to have a clean criminal record and not have been convicted of an offence in any jurisdiction.

WHO DETERMINES WHICH INVESTORS ARE LEGIT?

The applications are examined by an Evaluation Committee, which is made up of senior civil and public servants from various Irish Government departments.

HOW MUCH DO THEY HAVE TO INVEST?

There are four investment options available.

1: An Enterprise Investment – Committing to a minimum of €1 million in an Irish enterprise over a period of at least three years.

2: Investment Fund – To provide a minimum of €1 million to an approved investment fund, which has been approved and regulated by the Central Bank, also for a period of at least three years.

3: Real Estate Investment Trust – Committing a minimum of €2 million in an Irish Real Estate Investment Trust that is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. Again, this must be for a period of at least three years.

4: Endowment – To make a philanthropic donation of at least €400,000 to a project in Ireland which is of public benefit to the arts, sports, health, culture or education sector.

IS THIS A NEW SCHEME?

It was set up by the Irish Government in 2012.

IT ALL SOUNDS A BIT IRISH

No, such schemes for residency/citizenship are available in many countries in a bid to encourage inward investment.

WHAT DO INVESTORS GET IN RETURN?

The official fluffy stuff is that it allows investors avail of opportunities to invest and locate their business interests in Ireland. However, the bigger draw for most is the ability to acquire residency status. It is not only that the individual donor may reside, work and study in the country, but it also allows for their spouse/partner and children under the age of 18 to do so. There is also consideration given to their children between the ages of 18-24, if they are in full-time education. They do not get citizenship, just residency for 24 months, after which they can apply for it to be renewed for a further three years.

IS IT PROFITABLE FOR THE STATE?

Department of Justice figures, as reported in The Irish Times in June 2021, showed that in 2020 more than 260 donors had committed a total of €185.6 million to business and charities in Ireland through the IIP scheme. Since its inception in 2012, over €1 billion has been raised from the programme.

WHO ARE THESE INVESTORS?

Of the 267 successful investors in 2020, 254 of them were Chinese citizens. Between 2012-2019, from a total of 1,162 investors, 1,068 were from China. The investors in commercial projects must leave their money in place for at least three years when, dependent on the success or not of the venture, they will receive some or all of it back. However, those donating to charitable causes, because of its lower minimum contribution of €400,000, do not get their money back. Some of the causes/institutions to have benefited from philanthropic IIP contributions over the years include Beaumont and Tallaght hospitals, the Peter McVerry Trust and NUI Galway.