| Crime warning issued following funding setback |
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| Wednesday, 13 August 2008 | |
 A NORTHSIDE soccer club has issued a stark warning to the Government that if it continues to “neglect” working class areas, gun and drug crime figures will inevitably rise.The warning followed St Malachy’s Football Club’s failure to get funding for a badly needed clubhouse from the Government’s Sports Capital Grants scheme, which was announced last week. Although e50 million was provided for sports clubs and organisations all over the country, the figure was well down from the e85 million granted the previous year. After being turned down last year on what they felt was a minor technicality, the Edenmore-based club believed their application for a sports capital grant this time round was a certainty. The club’s plans to completely renovate their clubhouse and develop an all-weather astro-turf pitch were launched at their 40th anniversary celebrations earlier this year. But now the dream of having a new facility has to be put on hold following the Government’s major cut in funding for sports clubs. The Northside club feels that the Government is simply overlooking disadvantaged areas like Edenmore, Coolock and Darndale when it comes to funding. They are urging the Government to invest more in these areas. John Hobbs, secretary of St Malachy’s Football Club, said young people in the area need more encouragement to take up team sports. “I worry that without adequate facilities many more youths will turn to anti-social behaviour,” Mr Hobbs told Northside People. “When we applied for funding for a new clubhouse last year, we were told that we couldn’t get the grant unless we had a percentage of the money ourselves. “Since then we have raised e137,000 so we had assumed that it was a sure thing this year. “We have planning permission to build on land owned by Dublin City Council that they have kindly donated to us, but because we don’t own the deeds they (Government) said our application was incomplete.” According to Mr Hobbs, the club’s members worked very hard over the past year to raise its percentage of the cost of the clubhouse, even going as far as getting people to sponsor a brick each for e100. “We don’t have wealthy backers like some clubs, just the support of the community,” he said. “We raised so much money by ourselves but now we just don’t know what to do. “We have players getting changed without dressing rooms and getting robbed – that’s no way for a football team to operate. “We wanted to start a women’s team to get some of the local girls involved but now that’s going to be hard.” Mr Hobbs pointed out that Colaiste Dhulaigh, which has a premises nearby, have been offering help to the club. “They have been really great and hopefully we can work together to improve the area,” he stated. Mr Hobbs believes that with proper funding, his team could provide a positive alternative to the anti-social behaviour trap some local children and teenagers find themselves falling into. “We all know there are kids hanging around with nothing to do and some end up on drugs or handling guns,” he added. “But we don’t have to focus on the negative all the time; this area is full of good people who just need a chance to show what they are capable of.” The Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism declined to comment on the situation at St Malachy’s Football Club when contacted by Northside People. A spokesman said: “We do not wish to comment on this specific case.” Donaghmede ward councillor, Sean Kenny (Lab), said the massive cut in the sports grants was “deplorable”. “It is significant that some of the applicants in Dublin city who received no funding whatsoever in 2008 were part of the city’s Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development (RAPID) areas and had their funding application endorsed by Dublin City Development Board,” stated Cllr Kenny. “An example of this is the grant refusal for St Malachy’s Football Club. “It is now time that the decision making function for Sports Capital Grants be devolved to local government which is closer to the communities and best placed to decide on priorities based on need, particularly for disadvantaged areas.” |
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Developed by Kevin Flynn