Derry’s premier youth sporting event, the O’Neill’s Foyle Cup, has been turned down for Tourism NI funding for the second year running.
Disappointed Foyle Cup organisers learned the tournament had not been successful in its bid for £30,000 International Tourism Event funding on May 1.
Speaking to The Irish News, Foyle Cup secretary Philip Devlin, described the Tourism NI decision as “bewildering”.
He added: “Why is Tourism NI not funding an event which effectively ticks every box?
“Foyle Cup has an extremely strong social media presence. Our posts get millions of hits every year. We will have 13,000 competitors this summer; 200,000 spectators; and 14,000 bed nights, mostly full board.
“The competition achieves a direct economic investment of between six and eight million pounds – a return of more than £200 for every pound we receive.
“This decision just doesn’t make any sense and that is why it is important that we get answers from Tourism NI.”
Mr Devlin explained Foyle Cup organisers had also applied for Tourism NI funding last year and been rejected.
“There used to be two Tourism NI funds available - Large International Tourism Event and Smaller International Tourism Event,” he said.
“Out of the blue last year, Tourism NI announced they were discontinuing the fund to which Foyle Cup had made its application. It just scrapped every application without even considering them.”
According to Tourism NI’s Annual Progress Report, the sporting projects funded from its International Tourism Events Fund 2022/23 included: the Antrim Coast Half Marathon (£114,000) and Super Cup NI (£75,000).
Philip Devlin said the Foyle Cup organisers thought last year’s NI Tourism decision “very unfair”.
“We challenged it, without success, and then decided to re-apply this year,” he added.
“There is only one international event fund, so we applied and were turned down again. We have not yet been given an explanation, but we have asked for one, as a matter of urgency.”
Founded in 32 years ago, as a one-day tournament for Derry’s Impact ‘92 year, Foyle Cup 2024 was launched in the city on Friday.
Philip Devlin said participation had grown ‘exponentially’ every year.
“We will have 730 teams competing this year. Notably, the participation of girls has increased by 800% since Covid. This year there are 140 girls’ teams in the Foyle Cup. There probably isn’t a competition in Europe that has 140 girls’ teams taking part.”
Tourism NI said the 2024/25 International Tourism Events Fund attracted a large number of applications, resulting in strong competition for a limited budget.
“We understand there will be disappointment from those who were not successful in their applications,” it said.
“Applications were assessed on applicants demonstrating how their event will deliver on the strategic tourism growth objectives for Northern Ireland, as set out in the funding scheme guidance.”
