Taoiseach’s Mayo village cycling club hits jackpot with Lottery grant

spyderski

Weepsie wrote: »

I know. I was merely pointing out that it is privately owned, that alone might prevent it from being called a community centre.

I was trying to dig to see if they got any funding to restore the Cottage, couldn't find much other than stuff about heritage events it was involved with and a loose connection or two to Michael Ring. Said president was presented with a Presidential Certificate in 2014 for his involvement in "the Gathering". It was presented by one Michael Ring

Sorry, didn't mean to seem abrupt.

The whole ownership of the "community centre" muddies the waters further, if anything.

AndrewJRenko

Jawgap wrote: »

spyderski wrote: »

TBH things like this have always bothered me, but I've never done anything about them before. This is different because 1. It's so bloody blatant and 2. It's cycling related.

I agree it will be interesting to see is there's a difference between the application and the PRO's comments.

Only thing is, it sticks out so badly, that one would presume the politicians will have covered their tracks, knowing there might be controversy given the clubs' location..

From my own experience you can guarantee there is no 'smoking gun' - the Minister's Office calls, it never emails

So FOI the phone logs then

AndrewJRenko

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Jawgap wrote: »

No, it was changed recently - they're now obliged to charge for the time taken if it exceeds an hour and Health have been pretty zealous about it!

Mind you, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to extract the file, copy it, review it for personal info and send it on.

I imagine the charge is there to stop every tom dick and harry phoning up with flippant requests, not because of the time or cost.

The best solution to this is for the Dept to publish everything on their website by default - every email, every agenda, every set of minutes - probably the most effective way to hide stuff too.

Jawgap

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

So FOI the phone logs then

You'd get a ream of numbers and the Department is under no obligation to tell you who owns which DDI extension. You'd also need to know the number of the person who made the call.

Plus, that would only be evidence that a call was made, not what was discussed.

Anyway, in my experience it's never as explicit as 'give so-and-so a grant' - the call might simply have been to check that the application was received, which is really code for it being "important" to the politician.

CramCycle

Jawgap wrote: »

Anyway, in my experience it's never as explicit as 'give so-and-so a grant' - the call might simply have been to check that the application was received, which is really code for it being "important" to the politician.

Just one more thing...

ted1

So are any if you clubs preparing the paperwork to apply for s grant hit next year ?

AndrewJRenko

Jawgap wrote: »

You'd get a ream of numbers and the Department is under no obligation to tell you who owns which DDI extension. You'd also need to know the number of the person who made the call.

So FOI the phone logs of calls made from the Minister's office over the relevant period and the extension list then.

Jawgap wrote: »

Plus, that would only be evidence that a call was made, not what was discussed.

Anyway, in my experience it's never as explicit as 'give so-and-so a grant' - the call might simply have been to check that the application was received, which is really code for it being "important" to the politician.

Timing is everything. A call from the Minister's office BEFORE decisions have been made would be very interesting.

CramCycle

ted1 wrote: »

So are any if you clubs preparing the paperwork to apply for s grant hit next year ?

Yes, once SpiderSki gets the FOI and I see the language and tact used. I actually have some ideas for what it could be used for that would actually be within the remit of the grant, although it is unclear if that is necessary :pac:

Donal55

CramCycle wrote: »

Yes, once SpiderSki gets the FOI and I see the language and tact used. I actually have some ideas for what it could be used for that would actually be within the remit of the grant, although it is unclear if that is necessary :pac:

Have you a taoiseach or minister in your constituency?Otherwise you're wasting your time.

CramCycle

Donal55 wrote: »

Have you a taoiseach or minister in your constituency?Otherwise you're wasting your time.

A minister

Donal55

CramCycle wrote: »

A minister

Sorted!

Jawgap

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

So FOI the phone logs of calls made from the Minister's office over the relevant period and the extension list then.

Timing is everything. A call from the Minister's office BEFORE decisions have been made would be very interesting.

Not really, I'm sure calls go back and forward all the time.

You might be following the money, but this isn't Watergate

i think a fair idea of how this grant was awarded will come from an examination of the application - if there's a "now-why-didn't-we-think-of-that" moment it'll be fair to say the probability of political interference was low.

ted1

Jawgap wrote: »

if there's a "now-why-didn't-we-think-of-that" moment it'll be fair to say the probability of political interference was low.

I persume that there will be.

Farmers are great at getting grants, probably a few farmers in the club.

Jawgap

ted1 wrote: »

I persume that there will be.

Farmers are great at getting grants, probably a few farmers in the club.

Yes from the relevant scheme - you don't see them banging in grant applications, for example, for money to operate community radio stations as part of their farming operations because it's going to broadcast farming information and is therefore relevant to agricultural development

CramCycle

ted1 wrote: »

I persume that there will be.

Farmers are great at getting grants, probably a few farmers in the club.

The grants that farmers get and the grants listed are different not only in what they are for but also in what they are. Grants dispensed to farmers are typically available to all farmers who meet the minimum number of criteria, be it heads of cattle, acreage, sealed off land etc. In this respect they are very different to the grant from the lotto which is competitive and not all minimum requirement applicants will get it.

spyderski

ted1 wrote: »

I persume that there will be.

Farmers are great at getting grants, probably a few farmers in the club.

Farmers' Teagasc advisers are great at getting grants. Farmers themselves, not so much, in my experience.

thekooman

spyderski wrote: »

That would be funny if it wasn't most likely the truth. Great way to spend what little money the health service has. :mad:

if the 20k got 5 more people to join the club (or existing members) and it stopped them clogging up our hospitals due to increased fitness and less health problems in future years i think it would be a great investment?? i for one have dropped 18kg since i was in college about 15 years ago, all down to joining a club.

spyderski

thekooman wrote: »

if the 20k got 5 more people to join the club (or existing members) and it stopped them clogging up our hospitals due to increased fitness and less health problems in future years i think it would be a great investment?? i for one have dropped 18kg since i was in college about 15 years ago, all down to joining a club.

By that logic every club in the country should get €4k per new or existing member. Or is it just Mayo clubs you think deserve it?

thekooman

spyderski wrote: »

By that logic every club in the country should get €4k per new or existing member. Or is it just Mayo clubs you think deserve it?

they applied for it and got it (how they got it has been done to death and ive things for doing)... i wish our club had applied for it.

ted1

spyderski wrote: »

Farmers' Teagasc advisers are great at getting grants. Farmers themselves, not so much, in my experience.

I know a lad getting a grant for acerage in Wicklow which includes common land 26k a year and the lad does nothing. Has his brother minding a few sheep for him.

RayCun

ted1 wrote: »

Farmers are great at getting grants, probably a few farmers in the club.

Farmers produce food.
Without food, we die.
Therefore food is necessary for health.
Therefore, all farmers should get health grants!

ted1

spyderski wrote: »

That would be funny if it wasn't most likely the truth. Great way to spend what little money the health service has. :mad:

The health service has plenty of money. 24% of total spend . So 1 in 4 tax euros is spent on health.

But this comes from a different budget.

spyderski

Meanwhile, also in Mayo..

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/29080-services-for-children-with-autism-under-huge-pressure

spyderski

More funding is urgently needed to provide adequate services for children with autism in Mayo, according to Western Care Executive Director Bernard O’Regan.
According to Mr O’Regan, autism services are ‘under huge pressure’, and Western Care is struggling to provide these and other services with its current funding levels.
“The resources available at the moment are the same as the last number of years, even though there’s been a significant increase in the number of children [diagnosed with autism].

spyderski

Now defend the €20k to the well-connected cycling club.

ted1

spyderski wrote: »

Now defend the €20k to the well-connected cycling club.

There totally unrelated, you are really digging now

spyderski

You see, I have no idea what it's paying for. The PRO says it's for spin bikes, but as they wouldn't qualify for funding, I can only guess what the purpose is.

spyderski

ted1 wrote: »

There totally unrelated, you are really digging now

It's unrelated that a worthy cause such as that is crying out for funding, while the local Cycling Club get a present of €20k from the Dept of Health? You're the one stretching credulity here.

spyderski

Is it just me or has the page with the grants listed been removed from the Dept. website ?

http://health.gov.ie/about-us/national-lottery-grant-scheme/list-of-approved-national-lottery-grants/

smacl

spyderski wrote: »

Is it just me or has the page with the grants listed been removed from the Dept. website ?

http://health.gov.ie/about-us/national-lottery-grant-scheme/list-of-approved-national-lottery-grants/

Looks more like poor web design than anything shifty. It is here as a PDF; http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-Department-of-Health-Lottery-Grants.pdf Page with previous years awards here; http://health.gov.ie/about-us/national-lottery-grant-scheme/

In the context of the other beneficiaries the sole cycling club does seem entirely out of place.