Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews has said that sports facilities in the inner city of Dublin do not receive as much funding as facilities in more affluent areas of the city.
The Dublin Bay South TD cited a report from Sporting Liberties which highlighted the lack of facilities for young people in particular.
“It is appalling that, in 2024, so many children in our capital city do not have access to the most basic facilities – this is having a damaging impact on society.”
He said that as a whole, sports in Ireland “has been underfunded for decades.”
“Year after year, Eurostat figures have shown that we have one of the worst ratios of GDP devoted to sport and recreation.”
“We cannot plaster over the cracks and expect everything to be fine – we need to see a clear sports facility strategy put in place to identify communities like those in the inner city that are being left behind,” he said.
“You do not need to look any further than Kevin Street; for such a large community, there is one tiny astro pitch near Digges Lane.”
“It is like a stamp but is expected to cater for all the young families living in the area. The former DIT site in Kevin Street had huge potential for community development, affordable housing and leisure facilities but was sold off by the Government to private developers,” he noted.
“This government is selling off the assets that could make the city better for families and encourage families to come in but instead it is transferring facilities like the DIT site in Aungier Street and selling the DIT site in Kevin Street and the community is left with nothing.”
He said the moves by government are “forcing families out instead of encouraging them to come in; I ask that we invest in sports facilities in the inner city.”
Green Minister Malcolm Noonan defended the current government’s track record on sports funding, pointing to €256 million worth of government funding in 2024, with over €1.1 billion spent by the government on sporting projects since 1998.
Noonan stated it was not government policy to support land or property acquisition, and that this matter would be better addressed by Dublin City Council.
Andrews replied, “the announcement of funding and grants is all well and good but how much of it is making its way down to the local community? You do not have to go too far from here to see.”
“Someone living in Pearse House or Markievicz House has almost no good-quality sports or leisure facilities, so the Minister of State can spin and make announcements but families in Pearse House, Markievicz House and Leo Fitzgerald House do not have the facilities they deserve and should have.”
“While we are all talking about announcements and figures, it does not reach ordinary working families in the inner city to make the inner city a more welcoming and friendly place in which to bring up your family.”
He remarked that the government’s current sporting policy was akin to the Late Late Show, with “one for everybody in the audience but not delivering any infrastructure, particularly for inner-city communities.”