Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke, recently announced €1 million in funding for the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) under the Healthy Ireland Walking Tracks initiative.
The funds will be used to make community walking tracks located on sports clubs’ grounds more accessible to more people.
The announcement of €500,000 each for the IRFU and FAI follows €1.6 million in funding for the GAA in 2022 and 2023, which provided walking track grants to 106 clubs around the country.
The initiative supports the upgrade of existing walking track facilities to make them more accessible to people with mobility issues, such as older people and wheelchair users. Funding may also cover upgrading or the installation of lighting designed to prolong the hours of usage, particularly during the dark winter evenings. Grants will be awarded to clubs in each organisation following a competitive application process.
