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MLA Justin McNulty has said that Sport NI is failing to deliver for athletes, players, teams and sport clubs across the North.
The SDLP Sports Spokesperson was speaking after it emerged the body has returned £1m to the Department of Communities after underspending its budget by £500,000 for the past two years. In reply Sport NI said that they are disappointed with any missed opportunity for sport but that in 21/22 and 22/23 they had invested additional money.
Mr McNulty said “I cannot understand how Sport NI have ended up in a position where they are handing back £1m at a time when sporting organisations, clubs and athletes across the North are crying out for funding to help them achieve their aims. Last year we saw the end of the school sports programme for primary schools due to a lack of funding and it’s clear that there are a multitude of ways this money could have been put to good use.
“Sport is so important for people of all age groups fostering fit and healthy lifestyles whilst promoting positive mental health and social interaction with a sense of community. Sport teaches important life skills like teamwork and resilience to overcome setbacks and challenges. All the while our health system is at breaking point trying to cope with people who are sadly burdened with addiction and mental health challenges. Surely fostering a more active society through sport could be an antidote to some of the addiction and mental health challenges people are facing.
“Sports NI has been tasked with fostering a positive sporting environment across the North and their failure to utilise this funding alongside their struggle to meet their aims begs questions as to how better we can get much needed funding to the many clubs and organisations in need of it."
The Newry and Armagh public representative added “I have sought a meeting with the leadership of Sport NI to understand how this happened and to seek assurances that an approach will be adopted to ensure this does not happen again. A major concern I also have is that because this underspend has happened two years in a row that the Department for Communities would see this as an opportunity to reduce their financial commitment to sport.
“Sport is such an important facet of life across the North and all of our available resources should be going towards development and driving positive change to embed a culture of activity and participation at every level and for every generation.”
In reply to Mr McNulty's comments spokesperson for Sport NI said “We are passionate about the power of sport to change lives – and funding sports is a huge part of that. We are disappointed with any missed opportunity for sport, and not spending our full allocated budget. However in both FY21-22 and FY22-23 we actually invested additional money into sports in capital projects £712k & £464k, over and above our original budget & plan for the year – representing almost an additional £1.2m. During FY21-22 we also invested an additional £4.3m to front line sports clubs via the NI Executive COVID Recovery Fund.
“We are investing more money in more sports. Through our major investment programmes with funds from National Lottery we have increased money going into sports from £4.8m last year, to £7.1m this year, with an ambition to boost this to almost £8m next year.”
