Lyons urged to consider Derry City FC’s £2m North Terrace investment

Transcript

00:00I thank the Minister for his answers and welcome the impending and long, long overdue opening

00:05of the Northern Ireland Football Fund. In the terms and conditions, Minister, it refers

00:11to the fact that match funding of 5% will be expected from successful clubs. However,

00:16in the case of there being a publicly owned ground, that will increase to 40%. Given recent

00:23investment of somewhere in the region of £2 million by Derry City Football Club in the

00:28Brandywale north stand, construction is still ongoing. Will the Minister give favourable

00:34consideration to including that as an example of match funding from a club?

00:41I hope the Member will read all of the documentation that has been put out. Certainly, for those

00:46who have invested in the past, that does contribute towards higher points within the matrix. That

00:53is not just through this process but includes past investment as well. It is important

00:59that those who have invested in their facilities and have been willing to put money in already

01:04will benefit from that. I encourage the Member to read all of the documentation. When you

01:08look at the scoring matrix that we have put in place, it is very fair. That has been the

01:13response from most clubs so far.