SDLP Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty MLA has pressed Communities Minister Deidre Hargey MLA on the need to provide more capital funds to boost sports facilities.
Mr McNulty explained, ‘Our sports clubs are the backbone of local communities and in the last eighteen months we have seen the true value of them and their roots in local communities as they switched from a sporting focus to helping the vulnerable and isolated in our communities.’
‘Many of our sporting facilities are about much more than a playing field, they are community hubs and when you see what can be done with capital funding they can transform what was a simple sporting filed into a sports complex with walking trails, gyms and community facilities. They have become the fulcrums of communities. Covid has taught us of the even greater importance of these facilities and I want to see more support from the Executive and the Department of Communities to see facilities expand and grow.’
‘I have asked Communities Minister what plans she has to being forward additional support for community and sporting groups to develop and expand their facilities. I know there is a real appetite for growth and investment in these facilities all they need is the financial support to make it happen.’
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