Solicitor Thomas Byrne (Minister for Sport and Physical Education) has announced a €24 million investment in high-performance support in 2023.

At the Sport Ireland Campus (1 March), the minister joined Sport Ireland, along with some high-performance athletes, to announce the multi-annual funding package.

“Our athletes inspire the nation and as Minister for Sport and Physical Education, I am determined to support them in their strive for excellence,” he said.

The National Sports Policy aims to provide continued support to high-performance athletes through increased levels of funding, he added.

The news will build on the highest-ever recorded medal achievements in 2022, with historic levels of investment in high-performance sport.

Commitment

“Our commitment to the High-Performance Strategy is reflected today by an additional allocation of €4 million, bringing the total investment to €24 million, in 2023,” the minister said.

“We want Team Ireland to be well placed heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games – and this funding will go a significant way towards supporting our high-performance athletes,” he said.

Under the Sport Ireland multi-annual funding commitment from 2022 to 2024, €10.8 million in High-Performance Programme Funding will be provided to 19 national governing bodies and will support the delivery of their performance programmes in 2023.

Olympics

A further €950,000 has been allocated to the Olympic Federation of Ireland (€500,000) and Paralympics Ireland (€450,000) for operations and administration support.

The total levels of investment for 2023 will see Sport Ireland tracking to invest over €67 million in high-performance sport between 2022 and 2024.

Minister Thomas Byrne said: “Our athletes inspire the nation, through their individual and collective achievements. It is important to ensure that they are provided with the best opportunity to succeed.”