Donegal Sinn Féin TD, Pearse Doherty has invited the state’s new Ministers to visit the proposed site of the new Finn Harps stadium in Stranorlar to ensure that investment is followed through.
The TD is this week calling on the new Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, Catherine Martin TD; as well as Minister for State for Sport, Dara Calleary, to see the task of building the new stadium through to completion and not to let the investment to date go to waste.
Deputy Doherty said he is hopeful that the new Ministers will heed the local campaign: “Following engagement I have had with the previous Minister, Shane Ross, on behalf of the stadium committee; and following the recent disappointment experienced when the stadium was passed up in the last round of funding announced, I am now hoping that Minister Martin and Minister Calleary will recognise the importance of completing this project for the local community in the area, and indeed for supporters of Finn Harps across the county.”
Doherty commended the committee for their tireless work to date and said: “I have been told by the Department last week that in view of the fact that the proposed development had received previous grants from the Department, it was agreed that the application should also be subject to the due diligence process and the question of funding could then be further considered. The Department has been advancing that process in consultation with the FAI. The Department wrote to the FAI to confirm that it was satisfied that the multi-criteria analysis was compliant with the Public Spending Code.”
An invitation has been issued to the new Ministers inviting them to visit the proposed site.
“The new Ministers need to keep up this engagement, to provide the funding needed and to ensure that the new stadium is built. There is no doubt that the stadium will be a fantastic resource for the community in Donegal,” Deputy Doherty concluded.