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08/05/2012
Lottery Funded Grants For Mayo Increase 70% Since Kenny Became Taoiseach
An investigation by the Irish Independent has revealed how Enda Kenny’s home county has benefited from the largest number of Lottery funded grants since becoming Taoiseach.
His own constituency Mayo received the biggest number of sports grants last year; getting double the allocation of Dublin city.
A rise in grants allocated to Mayo, up by 70& to €1.8m, has lead to accusations that the funding scheme is open to being operated as a political slush fund.
Mayo moved from ninth to fourth in the rankings of total Lottery grants paid per head of population after Mr Kenny became Taoiseach.
It jumped from the equivalent of €8.36 for every person living in Co Mayo in 2010 to €14.03 per head last year.
And €678,000 of the €1.8m the county received was channelled through the department of Mr Kenny's constituency colleague – junior tourism and sport minister Michael Ring.
The biggest Lotto bonanza was bestowed on Westport, Mr Ring's hometown.
The junior minister's department approved three grants totalling €230,000 for the town last year, a bigger allocation than the whole of south county Dublin.
A spokesman for the minister last night denied he had favoured Mayo and his hometown or that the capital sports programme was used as a slush fund. Although his department approved them, the spokesman said: "Minister Ring did not have responsibility for selecting individual projects.''
The grant allocations included:
- €85,000 for an outdoor fitness trail.
- €70,000 for the upgrade of sports facilities at Westport Leisure park.
- A further grant of €75,000 for the minister's local park.
The revelations last night sparked a political row, with Fianna Fail's spokesman on sport Timmy Dooley saying the grants raised questions about whether Lotto funds were being distributed fairly.
(H)
His own constituency Mayo received the biggest number of sports grants last year; getting double the allocation of Dublin city.
A rise in grants allocated to Mayo, up by 70& to €1.8m, has lead to accusations that the funding scheme is open to being operated as a political slush fund.
Mayo moved from ninth to fourth in the rankings of total Lottery grants paid per head of population after Mr Kenny became Taoiseach.
It jumped from the equivalent of €8.36 for every person living in Co Mayo in 2010 to €14.03 per head last year.
And €678,000 of the €1.8m the county received was channelled through the department of Mr Kenny's constituency colleague – junior tourism and sport minister Michael Ring.
The biggest Lotto bonanza was bestowed on Westport, Mr Ring's hometown.
The junior minister's department approved three grants totalling €230,000 for the town last year, a bigger allocation than the whole of south county Dublin.
A spokesman for the minister last night denied he had favoured Mayo and his hometown or that the capital sports programme was used as a slush fund. Although his department approved them, the spokesman said: "Minister Ring did not have responsibility for selecting individual projects.''
The grant allocations included:
- €85,000 for an outdoor fitness trail.
- €70,000 for the upgrade of sports facilities at Westport Leisure park.
- A further grant of €75,000 for the minister's local park.
The revelations last night sparked a political row, with Fianna Fail's spokesman on sport Timmy Dooley saying the grants raised questions about whether Lotto funds were being distributed fairly.
(H)
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