Sports Minister Ring defends grant to local soccer club
The Minister for Sport has defended a decision to give his local soccer club a €200,000 grant.
Westport United Community Soccer Club in Co Mayo was named as one of a number of clubs around the country to benefit from a Department of Sport grant scheme.
Fianna Fáil has told the Irish Daily Mail that there needs to be more transparency about how the money was allocated, because (the party claims) it appears Fine Gael-lobbied projects were given priority.
But Minister Michael Ring has hit back, saying his local club deserved the money and he stands over the decision "100%".
"I did this as fairly as I could do it," he said. "Did I give my own (constituency) more than anyone else? No. I spread it around the country and around the sports as best I could."
