Funding cuts could hurt Milk and Foyle Cups

The Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure Carál Ní Chuilín, who has overall responsibility for sport, said the withdrawal of funding from the tourism events fund by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board could adversely impact both the Foyle and Milk Cup youth football tournaments and the North West 200.

She said: “The fund in question has been a key source of support for some of our most high-profile festivals and events, and I recognise that many of those will be significantly impacted by its potential withdrawal. Events such as Féile an Phobail, the North West 200, the Milk and Foyle Cups and the Walled City Tattoo, just to mention a few, will potentially be affected by the decision of the Tourist Board.”

Ms Ní Chuilín had been asked about the potential impact on those events by Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson.

The Minister added: “While I recognise the value that those larger events bring in terms of economic and social benefits, I think it is important that the whole impact of small community events also has to be acknowledged.”

She also expressed her opnion on the importance of sporting events: “It is vital that that cultural package for events, or the events support for a cultural package in sports, and even some of the bigger events, are supported as best as possible in future.”