Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson.
Sporting bodies here have been encouraged to “make use” of the contacts made during last month’s visit to Brussels.
During the visit, hosted by Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson, a delegation from across the nine counties of Ulster comprising the three major sporting codes – GAA, rugby and soccer (including Derry City) – met with Commission officials from the Department of Education and Culture who manage the Erasmus + Programme.
Ms Anderson said with the current seven year funding cycle beginning in January last, now was a “very opportune moment” for the three codes to visit Brussels to discuss the funding opportunities that existed at the EU level.
She added: “Significantly, the new Erasmus + Programme 2014-2020 with a distinct funding stream for Sport represents the first time in the EU’s history that there is a designated budget line for sports projects.”
“Representatives from all three codes engaged enthusiastically with Commission officials from the Department of Education and Culture who manage the Erasmus + Programme.
“There were other very useful meeting including that with the EU Sports platform where we discussed the importance of networking with other sports organisation across Europe.
“In addition to Erasmus + we also discussed other funding sources for sports related projects such as research activities in Horizon 2020 and potential funding from PEACE IV.”
Ms Anderson concluded: “This was an extremely beneficial visit. My objective was to introduce organisations such as the GAA, IRFU, IFA and FAI to the opportunities of EU funding and show that we will assist and direct them in any way we can in order to get the support they need in the process of securing funding.”
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