The Government will revisit the possibility of funding a Katie Taylor fight at Croke Park once it doesn't clash with the Heineken Cup final at the Aviva Stadium.
The date confirmed for Taylor's highly-anticipated rematch against Amanda Serrano in Dublin is May 20.
As yet organisers haven't announced a venue, but it is expected to go ahead at the 9,000 capacity 3 Arena in the capital's docklands.
Croke Park is Taylor's dream choice for the contest but GAA Headquarters has been ruled out on that date after Taylor's promoter Eddie Hearn put the high cost of security around the fight as the reason to end talks.
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Hearn had called on the Irish Government to play its part in the event taking place at the 82,000 capacity venue.
But Thomas Byrne, the Minister of State for Sport, explained that the fact that rugby's European club decider is being played on the same day across the river Liffey put the kibosh on State support.
Asked if it would make a difference if Taylor was to fight in Ireland in the autumn, Byrne replied: “There was a proposal submitted to the Department for a fight in Croke Park on the 20th of May but that doesn’t seem to be happening now, so effectively the Government role is over because of that.
“If anyone wants to put in submissions in relation to any other time or venue we'll obviously look at it.
"But any funding we give to major events - and we do give funding to major events – there is a cost-benefit analysis to be done in terms of possible benefits to the tourism economy and wider participation to the community.
"We have obviously approved some in recent years - and the Government has decided not to approve other ones where that cost-benefit doesn’t stack up.
"In this instance, that one isn’t going ahead on May 20th but we would love Katie Taylor to be fighting in Croke Park.
"If the promoters or managers want to come back with proposals…I met (Taylor's manager) Brian Peters and his colleagues after Christmas and they did put in proposals after, but it’s not happening now so it’s not an issue at the moment.
"What we have said in public is what we said to Katie’s manager (Peters) – and I never met Eddie Hearn – is that May 20th, because the rugby Heineken Cup (final) is on in Dublin, it seemed to us straight off that that would be hard to justify from a tourism point of view, and that if you said November – and I’m not saying November – it is obviously easier to make in terms of a tourism case.
"Now, that doesn’t commit us to a certain date but just to illustrate.
"So if they came to us with another proposal, of course we would look at it out of respect to Katie Taylor but, again, with all these proposals, there is a high threshold to cross.”
Minister Byrne explained that Department officials independently examine every proposal that comes in and make a recommendation that is subsequently either accepted or rejected by the Government.
And he insisted that the fact that it was Hearn's Matchroom business that was in line to cash in if the fight did go ahead at Croke Park was not a massive stumbling block to State backing.
“Look, it doesn’t even arise now because it’s not even on the agenda," he commented.
"What I would say is that some of the events in sport are obviously profit-making, but the calculations made by officials is whether there is a huge benefit coming into the country from tourism, like the American College Classic and Ryder Cup.
"We had the Solheim Cup before. There is funding given to that even if someone is making a profit in that there is a much bigger profit to the Irish state, to participation and to society.
"That’s what we want.”
Minister Byrne was speaking at the announcement of the €26m core grant investment package for sporting organisations.
This year’s figures see a €1m (6%) increase in allocation to the National Governing Bodies on 2022 funding. The total core funding to the NGBs in 2023 is €16m.
Four organisations in particular - Special Olympics Ireland, Athletics Ireland, Swim Ireland and Horse Sport Ireland - have received seven figure funding.
“This significant funding package will support the implementation of important programmes and activities through the National Governing Bodies of Sport and the Local Sports Partnerships in 2023 and is a critical support for the sector and for the ongoing implementation of the National Sports Policy 2018 – 2027," said Minister Byrne.
"Cost of living pressures are having an impact across the sector and the increased funding announced today, allied to the significant cost of energy supports provided by Government, will ensure that sports clubs across the country are supported in addressing the challenge of rising costs.”
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