Healthy Ireland walking track grants (GAA, FAI, IRFU)

1. Friday 16 October 2026 IRFU closes No closing time published. Treat it as end of the working day.
2. Monday 19 October 2026 GAA closes 11pm. GAA, LGFA and Camogie clubs not funded in phase 1 or 2.
3. Friday 23 October 2026 FAI closes 5pm. Club Mark 1 or 2 Star clubs only.
4. Wednesday 9 December 2026 GAA decisions by Provisional outcome by email. IRFU says by the end of the year; the FAI has not said.

in plain words

A walking track is the one facility a club has that the whole parish uses, playing members or not, and the Department of Health has been paying to make them better since 2022 under the Healthy Ireland banner. The money goes through the governing bodies, so there are three strands: the GAA runs one for GAA, LGFA and Camogie clubs, the FAI runs one for soccer clubs, and the IRFU runs one for rugby clubs. Same purpose, same kinds of work, different forms, different dates.

It pays to upgrade a track the club already has. Resurfacing a grass or gravel loop with hardcore or tarmac. LED lighting along the route so people can walk it after work in November. Ramps, access points and surfaces that a wheelchair, a buggy or a walking frame can manage. It does not pay for a new track, and none of the three strands will pay for work that started before the grant was confirmed.

Each strand has its own gate. The GAA money is phase 3 and it is only for clubs that did not get phase 1 or phase 2 money. The FAI money is only for clubs holding Club Mark 1 or 2 Star. The IRFU money is for clubs affiliated to their province in the 26 counties. All three want the track on club grounds, and the FAI will ask about ownership or the years left on the lease.

The numbers say it is worth the evening. Across the two earlier GAA phases, about 300 clubs applied for nearly €9 million and 102 got a share of €1.6 million. The FAI has made €1.2 million available since 2024, 40 clubs have had a share so far, and every one of its 18 winners last December got the full €25,000. Thomastown United, Killorglin, Killarney, Arklow, Rathdrum, Tullow and County Carlow have all been funded, so the five launch counties know the scheme.

the money

GAA, LGFA and Camogie

Up to €10,000, €15,000 or €25,000. The club picks one band. €500,000 pot. Closes 11pm Monday 19 October 2026

FAI

€10,000 to €25,000. A club funded before can seek a top-up of up to €5,000. €300,000 pot. Closes 5pm Friday 23 October 2026

IRFU

Up to €10,000 or €20,000 depending on the scope. Pot not published. A small amount is kept for clubs funded before. Closes Friday 16 October 2026

The GAA notifies every club of a provisional outcome by Wednesday 9 December 2026. The IRFU says by the end of the year. The FAI has not published a date.

None of the three publishes a match-funding rule. The FAI form asks for the total project cost including VAT and the amount sought, so whatever sits between the two is the club's. If the job is bigger than the band, say so and show where the rest comes from.

What it will not pay for, on all three: a new track, and work that has already started. The GAA adds pitch floodlighting and track barrier fencing. The IRFU and FAI focus the money on surface and lighting.

The FAI form has an awkward footnote saying past winners are ineligible, under a paragraph and two questions that say they can seek a €5,000 top-up. The FAI's own launch article says top-up. If your club was funded before, apply for the top-up and send one line to facilities@fai.ie to confirm.

tenure and title

All three want the track on the club's own grounds. The FAI form asks whether the club owns the ground and, if not, how many years are left on the lease, and a successful club has to produce the title or the lease before the money moves. It also asks whether the track crosses anyone else's land and whether you have spoken to them. If the loop runs along a neighbour's ditch or a council path, have that conversation before you apply, not after.

The GAA and IRFU forms do not publish a tenure rule, but the GAA requires planning permission documentation where it applies, and a lighting job on a track near houses can need it. Ask the county council planning desk the week you apply.

quotes and pricing

At application

No quotes are required to apply, but the FAI wants the total cost including VAT and the GAA wants you to pick a band, so you need a real figure. A contractor's estimate for the surfacing per metre and the electrician's figure for the lighting columns is enough. Picking €25,000 for a job that costs €12,000 reads badly; picking €10,000 for a job that costs €40,000 leaves the club carrying €30,000.

At formal approval

Three quotes for all funded work and materials, after the provisional yes. The GAA and FAI both say it in so many words. The GAA also wants the contractor's insurance and its Contract Works Questionnaire filed before a digger moves, and the FAI wants a work plan with completion dates. That is where the quote request on this site fits: the week the email lands, not before.

the process, start to finish

1. 01

   Check the gate

   GAA, LGFA, Camogie: not funded in phase 1 or 2, one application per club, and a joint application if the GAA and LGFA or Camogie share the grounds. FAI: Club Mark 1 or 2 Star. IRFU: affiliated to your province. All: a track that exists today.

   Today
2. 02

   Walk the track with a tape and a phone

   Length, how much is off-road, GPS of the start, where it floods, where it is dark, where a wheelchair stops. The FAI asks for all of that. The GAA and IRFU ask what the work is and who it serves.

   This week
3. 03

   Get a figure

   An estimate for the surface per metre and for the lighting. Use it to pick the band, or to fill in total cost and amount sought.

   This week
4. 04

   Gather the paperwork

   FAI: the Similar Access Club Policy Document as a PDF, public liability insurance, a risk assessment of the track, the names and roles of the development committee. GAA: the official club name exactly as registered, the county, and a yes or no on the one-club model. IRFU: whether the club had the grant before.

   This week
5. 05

   Write the case

   Who will use it who cannot now: older people, wheelchair users, buggies, the men's shed, a walking group the club will start, people with no safe car-free place to walk. The FAI gives you 300 words for the proposal and 300 for usage. The IRFU scores exactly those three things.

   An evening
6. 06

   Submit before your date

   IRFU by Friday 16 October. GAA by 11pm Monday 19 October. FAI by 5pm Friday 23 October. Late and incomplete applications are binned, and all three say so.

   Mid October
7. 07

   Wait for the provisional yes

   GAA by Wednesday 9 December. IRFU by the end of the year. Then the real work: three quotes, the work plan, title or lease, planning if needed, and for GAA clubs an online planning meeting with two of the project team.

   December
8. 08

   Build in the new year

   With the quotes approved and the contractor's insurance on file. Keep every invoice. A lit, surfaced track in time for the spring evenings.

   Early 2027

where clubs go wrong

• Applying to the GAA strand after getting phase 1 or 2 money. The form says it in the second paragraph, and the application is not considered.
• Two applications from one grounds. A GAA club and its LGFA club sharing a pitch must send one joint application, and duplicates are thrown out.
• Starting the lights before the email. All three strands exclude work already begun, and the GAA wants the contractor's insurance filed before anything moves.
• Applying for a new track. None of the three pays for one. ORIS or CSFF is the door for that.
• A soccer club without Club Mark. The FAI strand is closed to it, full stop. Club Mark takes months, so this year is about getting the accreditation and applying next year.
• Leaving the FAI policy upload to the end. The Similar Access Club Policy Document is a required PDF on the form, and the template is on the Club Mark section of fai.ie.
• Reading 23 October as the deadline for everyone. It is the FAI date. The IRFU closes a week earlier and the GAA four days earlier, at 11pm.

tips that earn marks

• Say who cannot use the track today and will tomorrow. The IRFU scores three things: no safe car-free place to walk nearby, no manageable surface for wheelchairs and buggies, and links to the men's shed, inactive women and ethnic minority communities. The GAA and FAI are after the same.
• Promise a walking group and say who runs it. The FAI asks straight out. A named person and a night of the week beats a good intention.
• Tell them the track will be open to non-members and when. "Always accessible" scores better than "when the club is open", and it is the truth for most tracks anyway.
• Put the Healthy Ireland coordinator in. The FAI asks whether you will work with the local coordinator. Ring them before you apply and you can say yes with a name.
• Lighting is the thing that doubles usage. Earlier phases report a 92 per cent rise in use once tracks were lit and surfaced. If the band only stretches to one job, make it the lights.
• If the track is one element of a bigger project, put the rest into CSFF. Different elements can go to different schemes. The same metre of tarmac cannot be paid for twice.

official links and forms