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Grassroots soccer clubs in Newry need more investment to ensure children and young people can avail of first-class sports facilities in the area. That's according to MLA Liz Kimmins who was speaking to Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons at yesterday's, 18 June Assembly business.
Ms Kimmins said "The Minister mentioned East Antrim and East Belfast, but we have dire facilities. That is an issue that is raised regularly. We have some of the top teams in the North, such as Cleary Celtic Football Club, which won its third title in a row at the weekend, and some younger teams, such as Lisdrum Youth Football Club and Windmill Stars Football Club, coming through, which demonstrates an exponential growth in grassroots football for young people."
She continued "Will the Minister give a commitment to work closely with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to upgrade facilities and provide facilities that the teams across my area not only desperately need but, more importantly, deserve?"
Minister Lyons replied "First, I put it on record that I am sure that every constituency across Northern Ireland has fantastic football clubs that do fantastic work, and I am sure that they are all in need of resource. The Member mentions her constituency and makes an important point about the council. In many cases, councils have been essential partners in some of the development that we have seen take place so far. Under the Northern Ireland football fund, that will also be the case."
The Minister continued "It is important that councils work closely with the Department to deliver funding. It is worth making the point that, when it comes to applications to the fund, it is not about a pass or a fail. Rather, we want to work together with clubs to ensure that they get to the position that they need to get to so that they can avail themselves of the funding when it becomes available."He added that he is absolutely committed to working in partnership with clubs and other important stakeholders, such as councils, to make sure that funding is delivered.
“For too long our local grassroots soccer clubs have been forced to travel outside of Newry to access good-quality facilities, despite the wealth of footballing talent we have throughout our communities.
Grassroots soccer clubs in Newry deserve first-class facilities and investment to ensure our young people have every opportunity to thrive and prosper through sport”.
The Sinn Féin MLA continued,
“I welcome the commitment from the Communities Minister to work in partnership with Newry, Mourne and Down Council to ensure Newry finally gets the state-of-the-art sporting facilities it needs and deserves.
Sport brings communities together and is crucially important for encouraging our children and young people to live active, healthy lives, and I am committed to ensuring that sports clubs in Newry are not left behind.”
