The Olympic Federation of Ireland has announced a €200,000 discretionary fund for Olympic and European Games preparations ©OFI

The Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) has announced a €200,000 (£180,000/$216,500) discretionary fund for its member sports to support preparations for events such as the 2023 European Games, Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The 2023 fund can be applied for under three headings - National Federation Olympic Development Support, Performance Coach Support and Make a Difference Support.

Funding of up to €20,000 (£18,000/ $21,600) per National Federation will be available.

"The OFI will use the funding to leverage existing support or to provide solutions for sports where no current funding exists," an OFI statement said.

"Grant allocations will target projects which are sustainable and have clearly defined impacts in line with the OFI’s strategic plan.

"Applications will be open from today (January 25) until close of business on February 20, 2023.

"Grant awards will be announced before mid-March 2023."

In December last year, the OFI Athletes' Commission released details of a €65,000 (£56,700/$68,850) fund to help Irish athletes and coaches prepare for the Paris 2024 Games.

Applications were invited to benefit from the Make a Difference fund, which incorporated proceeds that were raised at the recent Make a Difference golf fund-raiser at the K Club.

Irish sports have been invited to apply to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for shares of a discretionary fund of €200,000 to help preparations for Olympic and European Games competition ©Getty Images
Irish sports have been invited to apply to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for shares of a discretionary fund of €200,000 to help preparations for Olympic and European Games competition ©Getty Images

Making the latest announcement, OFI chief executive Peter Sherrard said: "Discretionary funding for our members has proven to be particularly useful because it is targeted against very tangible outcomes to make a positive impact for athletes within sport performance programmes.

"Since the introduction of the scheme in 2018 the OFI has provided over €1million (£898,000/$1.08million) in funding for National Federations directly and to athletes in line with our objectives to inspire Ireland and to put athletes first."

Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Paris 2024, Gavin Noble, added: "It is important to us that we make this funding available early in the year to maximise the impact it can have for European Games 2023, Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026.

"The quality of applications from Olympic sports for this type of funding in previous years has been very strong, and we look forward to making a difference for our athletes, coaches and performance directors through this additional support."

National Federations can apply for the fund through the application form here.