Athletics Ireland Chief Executive Brendan Hackett has welcomed today’s announcement by the Irish Sports Council of a core grant of over €1.3 million for the Association. Over fifty National Governing Bodies of Sport were awarded a total of €11.9 million from the Irish Sports Council for 2008. The funding for Athletics Ireland will go towards coaching both athletes and coaches and also towards development programmes within the Association aimed at elite athletes right down to recreational and fun runners. Hackett is happy with the allocation for this year. “We have always received considerable support from the Government through the Irish Sports Council. This year is no different and our funding is again at a high level.” “While our level of allocation has evened out this year, this was to be expected after several years of increases in funding including a major increase in 2007. It is now up to us as an Association to find ways of generating additional income and we can do this through increased membership and sponsorship. Athletics is an excellent opportunity for sponsors and is still relatively untouched by the corporate sponsorship market,” Hackett said at the announcement.