Paralympic athletes big winners in Sports Council grant awards

Gone are the days when our elite athletes greeted the announcement of the International Carding Scheme with applause, surprise or else total horror – although that’s not saying some might still feel more empty-handed than others.

Central to the evolution of the scheme over the past decade has been the shift towards each individual sport directly funding athletes who have already delivered on the world stage: those with the potential to deliver are still supported, although in less direct ways, such as coaching and support services.

So, given their enduring success on that world stage, it's no surprise that Ireland's Paralympics athletes, swimmers and cyclists are the big winners in the latest allocation announced by Irish Sports Council – with 11 of them each awarded the maximum "podium" amount of €40,000.

This makes up €440,000 of the total allocation of €1,571,000 in direct athlete funding for 2015 (slightly down on last year's amount of €1,576,000, although the same 14 sports will again benefit directly). The 11 "podium" Paralympics specialists are Michael McKillop, Jason Smyth, Orla Barry (athletics); Ellen Keane, Darragh McDonald, Laurence McGivern, James Scully (swimming); and Mark Rohan, Colin Lynch, Katie-George Dunlevy and Eoghan Clifford (cycling).

A further nine athletes in Olympic sports will also receive the podium amount of €40,000 – including four boxers: Katie Taylor, Joe Ward, Michael Conlon and Paddy Barnes.

Boxers

However, the total allocation to Irish boxers for 2015 is €204,000 – effectively a 33 per cent drop on the €308,000 received in 2014. This is partly due to one of last year’s podium athletes (Jason Quigley) turning professional, although only seven Irish boxers receive direct funding this year, compared with 14 last year.

“We recognise that is a significant drop,” says Paul McDermott, the Sports Council’s Director of High Performance, “although there would be a few reasons for that. There is a drop in the depth of boxers that was there in say 2011 and 2012, and there were also far less opportunities for boxers to meet the criteria in 2014, because the competitions weren’t on. But there are mechanisms there to redirect more funding for this year, and the potential is there to support more boxers before the end of the year.”

Irish track-and-field athletes will get €188,000 in direct funding, although race walker Rob Heffernan is the only one to get the podium amount of €40,000. Mark English, who this month won European Indoor silver over 800m, to add to his outdoor bronze last summer, only gets the "world class" amount of €20,000.

Indeed four of the 10 Irish athletes to receive direct funding are race walkers, including Laura Reynolds (€12,000), despite some uncertainty about her competitive plans for 2015, and also Alex Wright (€12,000), who only recently switched allegiance from UK Athletics. Two athletes dropped from last year are 800m runner Rose-Anne Galligan and 400m hurdler Jessie Barr, although the likes of Paul Robinson (1,500m) and Thomas Barr (400m hurdles) have moved to the world class amount.

Down on last year

The only other athletes getting the maximum amount of €40,000 are sailor Annalise Murphy, triathlete Aileen Reid, track cyclist Martin Irvine, and clay-pigeon shooter Derek Burnett. The number of overall individual grants is down on last year – 75 in 2015, compared with the 85 that benefitted directly in 2014.

McDermott also explained why other individual sports – such as equestrian and golf – didn’t qualify any athletes for direct funding: “We know that is an issue, and we don’t hide from it, although historically there has always been some difficulties when it came to show jumping, and three-day eventing, because the ride may not always be on the same horse, or that horse could be sold off. To be fair, it’s not as straightforward as say funding a boxer or a swimmer.

“But we realise too that the recent success of the underage show jumpers has been phenomenal, and while they can and will be supported through the equestrian federation, we are also looking at ways to bring them into the system. It’s the same with golf, where a lot of young amateur golfers do receive funding under the Team Ireland Golf fund. And any golfer who does qualify for the Rio Olympics, whether that’s a Rory McIlroy or Graeme McDowell, will also receive some support.”

Irish Sports Coucil Podium Athletes

Robert Heffernan Athletics

Katie Taylor Boxing

Joe Ward Boxing

Michael Conlan Boxing

Paddy Barnes Boxing

Derek Burnett Shooting *

Colin Lynch Cycling (Paralympics)

Martyn Irvine Cycling

Mark Rohan Cycling (Paralympics)

Katie-George Dunlevy Cycling (Paralympics) *

Eoghan Clifford Cycling (Paralympics) *

Michael McKillop Athletics (Paralympics)

Jason Smyth Athletics (Paralympics)

Orla Barry Athletics (Paralympics)

Ellen Keane Swimming (Paralympics)

Darragh McDonald Swimming (Paralympics)

Laurence McGivern Swimming (Paralympics)

James Scully Swimming (Paralympics)

Annalise Murphy Sailing

Aileen Reid Triathlon

*Agreed that a portion of their funding would be invested directly in their programme by their National Governing Body