Golf Ireland has been allocated €1.4 million to develop its High Performance facilities in Carton House as part of the government’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund 2024 Project.
Minister Catherine Martin and Minister Thomas Byrne announced a record €173 million in grants for 35 projects across Ireland under the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).
Golf Ireland have been granted fund for the ‘Development of High Performance facilities for female and male national squads.’
The current allocation of €173 million follows earlier announcements this year, which included €26 million for sports equipment and €230 million under the Community Sport Facilities Fund, bringing the total investment in sports capital and recreation for 2024 to €429 million.
A new “use it or lose it” clause has been introduced which will ensure that if there has been no drawdown of any part of a grant within 2-3 years (timelines may vary from project to project), or before a new LSSIF round is announced, the grant offer will be deemed withdrawn.
The largest share of the €173 million was allocated to the redevelopment of Dalymount Park with €24.7 million going towards the project that would see an entirely new UEFA Category 3 stadium and football pitch.
Earlier this year Irish Golfer Magazine was made aware of concerns over the Golf Ireland Academy from some High Performance Players. A feeling that the facility had become outdated and that Ireland was lacking a top class practice facility in terms of indoors, outdoors and technology while the academy had previously not been available for use by High Performance players outside of public hours although this was changed during the year.
“We want to improve our facilities, it’s part of our strategic plan here at Carton,” outlined Golf Ireland High Performance Director Neil Manchip. “We are lucky to be in a great location which is pretty accessible for people all around the country. We are close to the airport with good hotel facilities.
“We need to improve our indoor offering. We have a great choice of grass bays, but sometimes winter conditions might leave them out of action. On any given day there should be access to perfect golf balls and grass tees. And players often bring their own technology, we have had a feasibility study done and as part of our strategic plan we want to upgrade our facilities.”