A YOUTH TRAINING scheme, due to begin next week with 28 trainees and two community development officers, has been closed by the Football Association of Ireland, leading to criticism from SIPTU.
The scheme was due to be run out of Oriel Park, Dundalk and has led to job losses as the FAI battles with its’ precarious financial situation.
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In an email, SIPTU Sector Organiser, Robbie Purfield, said, “This move by the FAI is exactly what our members have been warning about. It is a case of the organisation pulling up the supports for grassroots football. It is perplexing to even see what the current management’s strategy is.
“This is the third such training centre to be closed in a manner that runs counter to the supposed strategy of the organisation to support grassroots football. It doesn’t make any economic sense either, as 95% of the cost of this scheme was funded by the local Education and Training Board. It was a social intervention scheme aimed at helping young people develop their footballing and educational skills.”
SIPTU Organiser, Hugh Kennedy, said: “This decision highlights the lack of meaningful engagement by the FAI with both staff and communities who depend on these programmes. The closure not only impacts workers but also undermines opportunities for young people in Dundalk and across the region.
“The move would also seem to be contradictory to the FAI’s recent education strategy 2025, which seeks to develop that live up to the aim of where there is football there is education and where there is education there is football.
“These trainees will have also turned down other opportunities to take courses or other educational programmes. It is highly disrespectful way to treat these young people and the FAI staff.”
He added that SIPTU members are also awaiting the promised ‘FAI Transformation Plan’ which is expected to contain a number of other redundancies.
Kennedy said, “This represents a serious breakdown in trust and accountability in what is a mainly government funded body.”
SIPTU representatives confirmed that workers and Union organisers will be meeting with the Chair of the Oireachtas Sports Committee, Alan Kelly TD, today (Tuesday, October 1) to discuss the current crises facing the FAI.
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SIPTU reacts as FAI scrap programme for 28 trainees and two coaches at Oriel Park
A YOUTH TRAINING scheme, due to begin next week with 28 trainees and two community development officers, has been closed by the Football Association of Ireland, leading to criticism from SIPTU.
The scheme was due to be run out of Oriel Park, Dundalk and has led to job losses as the FAI battles with its’ precarious financial situation.
In an email, SIPTU Sector Organiser, Robbie Purfield, said, “This move by the FAI is exactly what our members have been warning about. It is a case of the organisation pulling up the supports for grassroots football. It is perplexing to even see what the current management’s strategy is.
“This is the third such training centre to be closed in a manner that runs counter to the supposed strategy of the organisation to support grassroots football. It doesn’t make any economic sense either, as 95% of the cost of this scheme was funded by the local Education and Training Board. It was a social intervention scheme aimed at helping young people develop their footballing and educational skills.”
SIPTU Organiser, Hugh Kennedy, said: “This decision highlights the lack of meaningful engagement by the FAI with both staff and communities who depend on these programmes. The closure not only impacts workers but also undermines opportunities for young people in Dundalk and across the region.
“These trainees will have also turned down other opportunities to take courses or other educational programmes. It is highly disrespectful way to treat these young people and the FAI staff.”
He added that SIPTU members are also awaiting the promised ‘FAI Transformation Plan’ which is expected to contain a number of other redundancies.
Kennedy said, “This represents a serious breakdown in trust and accountability in what is a mainly government funded body.”
SIPTU representatives confirmed that workers and Union organisers will be meeting with the Chair of the Oireachtas Sports Committee, Alan Kelly TD, today (Tuesday, October 1) to discuss the current crises facing the FAI.
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Dundalk FAI Scheme scrapped SIPTU