Causeway Coast and Glens Council seek more detail on Commonwealth Games funding request

Members of Council’s Leisure and Development Committee, which met in November, were presented with correspondence from CGNI’s chief executive, Conal Heatley, seeking financial support from Council to assist with athlete preparation and delivery of TeamNI at the 2026 Games in Glasgow.

In his correspondence, Mr Heatley requested funding of either £5,000 as a “supporter option” or £10,000 as a “top-tier partnership”, which could be either invoiced as a sponsorship or awarded as a grant from Council.

DUP Alderman Aaron Callan asked if an accompanying information pack provided by CGNI “expounded on what the money goes towards”, as he was unsure how the money would be spent.

Director of Leisure and Development, Pat Mulvenna, said the pack was “more of a promotional item”, which didn’t provide any further information.

“The letter is confirming that there are two layers of sponsorship but he didn’t really explain what was distinction,” she noted. “I can ask, obviously.”

Alderman Aaron Callan successfully proposed that a report be brought back to December’s Committee before members’ approval.

He concluded: “I’m supportive of giving them money, supporting any sporting activity obviously fits in with the health and wellbeing as part of our work as a council, but it would be good to get a bit more detail on how the sponsorship will benefit the organisation and what it will deliver.”