DOUBT has been cast on the future of Spórtlann na hÉireann as Coláiste Feirste warn they will be forced to close the doors to the Falls Road facility if Belfast City Council does not honour previously agreed funding commitments.
 
Spórtlann is the only Irish language sports centre in the city and is situated on the old Beechmount Leisure centre site. It is home to a range of sporting and community organisations including Irish language GAA club Laochra Loch Lao.

Coláiste Feirste acquired the land from Belfast City Council and there was a commitment at the time that the council would support community access to the facilities through a grant. However, the school says Council has withheld payments since April 2022, putting the school at a loss of £106,000. 

Speaking to the Andersonstown News, the chair of the school's Board of Governors, Seán Mistéil, says the popular facility remains chronically unsupported and underfunded by statutory organisations.

"The surge in education, economic, environmental and social impacts emerging is giving the city an expanded identity and new energy. We are therefore puzzled by the lack of policy or investment engagement," he said.

"We need this support to keep the doors open and to fulfill Spórtlann’s wider potential as a talent and commercialisation engine.  
 
"We are immensely proud of the growth of Spórtlann over the past year. We welcome thousands of visitors to our site every month, and a diverse, cross-community range of users. Given this success, Spórtlann should be a good news story in Belfast, yet it remains chronically unsupported and underfunded by statutory organisations."

Seán is calling on Belfast City Council to address the funding issues as a matter of urgency.

"Like any start-up the early stage costs are a burden and it is unfair the school is left alone to carry it," he added.

"When we acquired the old leisure centre site from Council there was an understanding, they would support community access to the facilities through a grant. In 2022, Council hired an outside firm to carry out a report on the sustainability of our facilities.

"We engaged with the report author and were delighted his report recommended a bridging fund of £53,000. Whilst this figure did not match the total running costs of our facility, nor the sink fund required to future proof our pitches, we accepted this proposal as a positive measure which would alleviate the immediate financial stress on an already overstretched and oversubscribed Irish language school.
 
"The money for 2021 was paid in April of 2022. Since then, Council has withheld further payments putting the school at a loss of £106,000. We have engaged in a series of meetings with Council officers in good faith to seek a resolution, but to date they have amounted to little.

"It is unreasonable to ask us to subsidise local sport and leisure when this is plainly the job of Belfast City Council.
 
"The situation is now urgent. We call on Belfast City Council and local political parties to come to a speedy resolution to this unnecessary situation, that will ensure a vital Irish Language facility remains open and local clubs and organisations continue to have access to the kind of facilities they need.  

"Spórtlann is a social impact organisation supporting Irish language families and sporting organisations to build community and a better life.

"Belfast City Council can accelerate the power of our impact but it must choose to do so and act now."

A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Belfast City Council is currently considering a request for further funding from Spórtlann na hÉireann and this matter will be brought to elected members for consideration in due course."