New details have emerged under the Freedom of Information about the controversial grant secured by the Taoiseach's cycling club.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny contacted the Minister for Health twice about an application by his own cycling club that resulted in a contentious €20,000 grant.
A new report in The Sunday Times states the Taoiseach contacted Minister for Health Simon Harris about the application for funding by Islandeady CC.
Kenny is a life member of the club, which is based in the part of Co Mayo he comes from. He was made an honorary member of the club in December 2015.
In May of last year he turned out in club kit to ride the Mayo Pink Ribbon sportive and in July he also opened another charity event the club assisted in.
The grant secured by the club has been seen as contentious in some quarters because it came from a fund reserved for bodies that provide health services.
Advertisement
Islandeady CC has said in recent weeks the Taoiseach had no role in its application for funding and was not consulted. It also defended its securing the money, saying its members had lost an average of 1½ stone.
Documents obtained by The Sunday Times under the Freedom of Information Act show that Kenny raised the application with Minister Harris, though nothing in the documents suggests the cycling club was aware of his involvement.
On May 9th last year the Taoiseach wrote to Minister Harris, enclosing the club’s application for lottery funding and asking to be kept appraised of progress with the application.
And on July 5th Kenny contact Mr Harris again for an update on the application, with a reply coming three days later from an official in the Department of Health.
The official advised that the application met the criteria for the grant being awarded because the club was aiming “to increase physical activity across the wider community”.
When the list of organisations successful in their applications was published in November, it emerged Islandeady CC had secured €20,000.
The club has said the money is needed to buy turbo trainers and mats for spinning classes it organises.
Related News
Under the Department of Health scheme that the money came from, Lottery funding is distributed to groups for the provision of health related services and facilities.
Islandeady CC was the only sports club to receive a grant from 120 recipient organisations last year.
Records available on the Department of Health’s website dating as far back as 2009 show no other cycling club has ever received a grant under the scheme.
The funding normally goes to organisations providing essential services for the disabled and infirm.
However, the club said the Taoiseach had no part in applying for the grant or in the funds being approved. It added Mr Kenny was not even consulted.
A club spokesman pointed out the club was “providing better health” as its 105 members had lost a combined 150 stone.
The spokesman told The Irish Times last month the club would now be able to provide “proper exercise equipment” at its base in Jack’s cottage in the village of Islandeady.
“At the moment members that spin have to bring their own bikes and turboframes with them,” he said.
Worker’s Party Dublin North-West representative Jimmy Dignam believed the funding should be examined by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
“It is the first time ever that a sports club has received a grant from the Department of Health as opposed to the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport. How was this made possible?” he said last month.
While sports clubs are entitled to apply for lottery funding, they normally apply under a capital grant scheme run by the Department of Sport rather than the Department of Health scheme, which has traditionally be reserved for vital services rather than leisure pursuits.
Islandeady CC is rare in that it uses a clubhouse; Jack’s Old Cottage at Derrycoorance, Islandeady, Castlebar.
The cottage, which is very close to Derrywash, Islandeady, where the Taoiseach is from, is maintained as a period building but has a large room in which the club runs spinning classes and other activities.
The club meets for spins in the area three times per week, setting out from their Jack’s cottage base. Its members mostly take on leisure events though a small number race.
Topics
