IN last week’s issue, the Department of Transport, Sport and Tourism was unable to meet our deadline for a response to a story we carried in relation to St Malachy’s Football Club and their plea for funding for a new clubhouse.
Following the story the Department has asked us to publish the following statement:
“The total value of all applications made for the 2012 Sports Capital Programme came to more than
?¬370 million, but just
?¬30 million was available for the scheme. Therefore strict qualification criteria had to be applied.
“The level of disadvantage in a club’s area was one of the five criteria against which applicants were assessed.
“Of the 2,170 applications received by the Department, the vast majority of these applications were for worthwhile projects like St Malachy’s.
“However, 1,522 were unsuccessful, while 648 received a grant. This means that just 30% of all applications were successful.
“St Malachy’s FC applied for funding of
?¬286,000 under the Sports Capital Programme 2012.
“As stipulated in the application form and the guide to completing the form, applicants applying for grants greater than
?¬25,000 must provide evidence of title.
“A solicitor’s letter is required confirming that s/he is acting on behalf of the applicant and that:
?¢ The applicant either owns the site for the proposed facility or that they hold it under a lease;
?¢ The leasehold or freehold title is registered with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) (if registration is pending then a dealing number from the PRA must be included);
?¢ If the title is leasehold, the lease must have at least 15 years remaining;
?¢ The title must be capable of supporting a charge.
“The applicant did not enclose such a letter as part of their application.
“On June 5, 2012, further documentation was received. However, as this was after the closing date for receipt of applications and all supporting documentation it could not be considered as forming part of the application.
“In any event, the documentation received on June 5 did not satisfy the title requirements under the Programme, as outlined above.
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The statement added:
“The application was endorsed by Dublin City/County Development Board.
“However, at the time of application St Malachy’s FC did not satisfy the terms and conditions of the Programme and the application was deemed to be invalid and was not therefore assessed.
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