Special Olympics Ireland (Special Olympics Ireland)

Lobbying Organisation Special Olympics Ireland

Date published 21 Sep, 2016

Relevant Matter Matters involving public funds

Public Policy Area Sports and Recreation

Period 1 May, 2016 to 31 Aug, 2016

Specific Details To help with necessary preparations for the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria during March 2017, Special Olympics Ireland lobbied the Budget and CULT committees on behalf of the Austrian Games Organising Committee to obtain financial support to cover some of the costs of hosting such a high profile gGames in the EU. Matt English as CEO of Special Olympics Ireland wrote to MS Liadh Ní Riada MEP on 4th July 2016.

Intended results Obtain Amendment to allocate funding to the "Special Annual Events" line 15 02 10 in support of the March 2017 World winter Games in Austria. Specifically the request was to allocate €6 million in EU Funding in the 2017 Draft Budget.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Matt English

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Letter (1)

Special Olympics Ireland was one of many European Special Olympic Programmes who contacted their relevant MEP in the hope of securing funds for the Games Organising Committee as athletes from across the EU, indeed across the globe would benefit enormously from participating in these Winter Games which are held only once every four years. Note the 2013 Games were held in South Korea and the 2009 Games were held in IDAHO, USA. Typically the EU would only host these Winter Games once every 12/16 years.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Liadh Ní Riada MEP (European Parliament)