South Dublin County Council have supported a variety of events through their Tourism Event and Festivals grant so far this year. Supported events include Mother Tongues Festival held in February, Canoeing Ireland Liffey Descent held in May, Dublin Masters Basketball International Tournament also held in May and Corkagh 5 Mile Road Race held in June.
Financial and marketing supports are all available through the Tourism Event and Festival grant process. The grant is targeted at organisations and organisers who plan to hold a public event or festival within South Dublin County Council’s administrative area. The aim of the scheme is to fund innovative events or festivals to add value to the County’s tourism product Dublin’s Outdoors and grow the visitor economy across key priority areas including culture, food, sports and activity. The maximum grant available is €7,500 and directly linked to the number of attendees from outside the county or overseas.
“The scheme has had success in attracting both domestic and overseas visitors to our part of Dublin”, said Ralph McGarry of the Council’s County Promotion Unit. “Since 2018 the scheme has provided €158,480 in funding supports to events taking place across the County, attracting 10,188 visitors from outside Dublin and 4,902 overseas visitors, providing over €1m of potential local economic dividend to the County”.
John Walsh, of Dublin Masters Basketball and grant recipient said, “‘The Dublin Masters International Basketball Tournament began back in 2013 and has grown into one of the largest and most popular Masters tournaments in Europe. In 2013 we had 15 teams compete. This year we had 46 teams from all parts of the world. The Tourism Event and Festival grant has been a major factor in helping us build our event and achieve such a level of success. This support allowed us to reach a far wider audience and helped us provide participants with a fantastic few days in Dublin. The’Dublin’s Outdoors’ logo fits nicely with our own branding. We hope to have many more successful years working with the great team behind this grant”.
Up to €50,000 has been allocated for this year’s scheme. Applications continue to be accepted for the remainder of 2023. Additional information and details on how to apply for the scheme can be found by visiting www.sdcc.ie/en/services/sport-and-recreation/tourism. Queries in relation to the scheme should be emailed to econdev@sdublincoco.ie.
Pic Credit: Conor McCabe Photography
