The home of this week's Olympic Gold medallist scullers, Skibbereen Rowing Club in West Cork, is one of 62 coastal community groups that has received funding today by Fisheries Local Action Groups under the Department’s EMFF Programme.
Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue T.D announced the grants worth €915,295 by the seven Fisheries Local Action Groups.
The home club of Olympic champions Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan was awarded €6,620 under the scheme for a new safety boat. Neighbouring Schull Regatta in West Cork was awarded €2,000 for its 2021 Regatta.
In the border region, Rosses Point Development Association CLG & Sligo County Council received €48,465 for a feasibility study for Sligo Community Boat Park. Sligo Rowing Club Co Ltd also received a grant to purchase a safety launch boat of €7,348.
The grants are awarded to mostly local community groups and micro-enterprises. The grants are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
2021 FLAG grant awards
Announcing the grant awards, Minister McConalogue said: “The FLAG Scheme under my Department’s EMFF Seafood Development Programme has been a huge success. With the grant awards I am announcing today, the seven FLAGs have successfully dispersed their full €12 million allocations under my Department’s EMFF Programme.
In other marine leisure related grants announced as part of the FLAG scheme, Valentia Rowing Club in County Kerry was awarded €5,000 towards a one design rowing racing boat & oars, a traditional 4 oar boat trailer & launching trolley.
Ballyglass Crew received €2,650 for its Ballyglass Crew Yachtmaster project.
The Irish Coastal Rowing Federation was grant-aided €16,438 for the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships 2021
The FLAG Scheme has been operating since just 2017, following a short pilot in the previous programme and has gone from strength to strength. This is a testament not just to the demand for such local development funding in our coastal communities but very much to the hard work of the local volunteers, many drawn from our seafood and wider marine sectors, who make up the boards of each of our seven FLAGs”.
Minister McConalogue added: “I believe that the FLAG initiative has significant additional potential in the years ahead to drive further start-ups and the development of seafood and marine businesses in our coastal communities and can be a key element of our strategy in mitigating the impacts of Brexit on our coastal communities”.
The FLAG scheme is now closed, having expended its full allocation. A process will be initiated as part of preparing the new Seafood Development Programme 2021-27 to appoint FLAGs for the next programme period.
The new FLAGs will be operational in 2022. To see each of the 62 individual awards click here
