The Sports Council for Northern Ireland has launched a five-point plan for the allocation of sports lottery funding for the future.

The Sports Council's five priorities which will help to determine the distribution of available resources up to the year 2007 are:

• to maintain and develop existing funding themes and programmes
• to work towards the development of a Northern Ireland sports facilities strategy
• to increase the number of capital projects where revenue support is provided
• to increase the rate of awards to areas which have not been successful in securing Sports Council lottery funding, areas of high social need and under-represented groups
• to develop marketing and communications.

Over the past eight years, lottery money allocated to sport in Northern Ireland has seen the Sports Council distribute £50 million through nearly 1,000 awards.

Speaking at the plan's launch at the House of Sport in Belfast NIO Minister Angela Smith said: “The income from the National Lottery helps to support many different types of activity across the United Kingdom and it is essential that this additional funding is spent wisely and makes a real difference to people’s lives.

“This has helped to provide different types of new playing facilities, pavilions and equipment as well as supporting special events and assisting individual sportsmen and women to develop their skills and compete at international level.”

However, the Minister stressed the importance of evaluating what has been achieved and reviewing the criteria under which these awards are made.

She said: “Examining the criteria under which one operates is always a challenge. But it is a task which must be tackled regularly in order to ensure that funding continues to be distributed in a way which has a positive effect on the whole community.

“These windfalls from the National Lottery have enormous potential to help sport in Northern Ireland to become stronger and I wish all those responsible for the allocation of these precious resources every success for the future.”

(GMcG)