Ministers O’Donovan and McConalogue reflect on achievements in 2025
- Published on: 16 December 2025
- Last updated on: 16 December 2025
- Record levels of sport funding and participation in sport
- Initiatives to improve access to the arts and massive investment in promoting Irish arts and culture
- National Broadband Plan changing lives nationwide
- Investment in public interest journalism
… among key achievements
Patrick O’Donovan TD, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, and Charlie McConalogue TD, Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy have reflected on the key achievements in 2025, which have helped support the sectors under the remit of the Department.
Reflecting on the year, both Ministers outlined key funding and measures which have helped sectors grow and contribute to the Irish economy and Irish society in general.
Minister O’Donovan said:
“My first year as Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport has been busy and rewarding, as we have strengthened each of the sectors under the Department’s remit. We have taken actions to support media pluralism and independence; and to counter the rising threat of misinformation and disinformation. We have delivered and continued to deliver, on game-changing national infrastructure, sports participation at all levels, and access to arts for everyone."
“I am proud of the significant progress made on enabling gigabit connectivity to every premises in the country, including homes, farms and businesses. This has been achieved through the deployment of the National Broadband Plan, which will be completed by the end of 2026, on time and on budget. Over €1.3 billion has been invested to date in the Plan, which is transforming the lives of over 1.1 million people across 560,000 premises in the State, by providing access to high-speed future-proofed broadband services."
“We have also taken action to improve the oversight of the agencies under the aegis of the Department in response to a number of issues which have arisen in recent years and to ensure that the Department’s own governance and oversight systems perform effectively. "
“Culture Ireland supported 5,500 artist presentations in 50 countries to audiences of over 6.7 million in 2024. 2025 will exceed those numbers. To further support the arts, in Budget 2026 the Government committed to a successor to the Basic Income for Arts pilot scheme. This scheme is currently under development and will launch during 2026."
“To increase access to the arts, I announced a series of grant schemes for small-scale local festivals and summer schemes; to support opportunities for emerging musicians, I announced new funding for Grassroots Music Venues; and in May, a new enhanced Section 481 tax credit for mid-to-lower budget feature films was launched. All of these measures support artists and the creative industries and strengthen Ireland’s position as a champion of the arts, and a world-class destination for film, gaming and culture."
“We published the National Counter Disinformation Strategy in 2025, and I announced additional funding to support public interest journalism in Budget 2026. These measures will help strengthen our media landscape in an era when people need to trust the information so readily available to them online, on air and in print."
“Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time from 1 July to 31 December 2026. My Department has been working with colleagues across Government, throughout this year, to input into the programme of policy priorities for the Presidency and I look forward to progressing this in the new year.”
Minister McConalogue said:
“Since my appointment as Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy in January, I have been delighted to advance key priority areas. We are committed to supporting our sporting ecosystem so more people can participate, reap the benefits of sport, and fulfil their potential, from grassroots right up to high performance level. In this regard, Government has invested well over €1 billion in sports infrastructure and development in Ireland since 2018."
“The rate of active sports participation among adults is now 49%, the highest it has ever been, and the participation gap between men and women is now below 3%. This is due in no small part to substantial Government investment in sport over recent years."
“Ireland remains a premier location for major sporting events, as evidenced this year by the first regular season NFL game to played here taking place in Croke Park. With UEFA Euro 2028 and the 2027 Ryder Cup on the horizon, it’s clear that Ireland is a top-class host nation for these major occasions.
“The local Post Office is so very often the hub of a community, and I was delighted to be able to announce increased support for Postmasters in Budget 2026. An Post has seen unprecedented levels of demand for its postal services this year, and Minister O’Donovan and I are proud to support the vital work of An Post and the local Post Office Network.”
Some of the key measures introduced to date in 2025 to help support the Culture, Communications and Sport sectors include:
CULTURE AND ARTS
- Funding secured for a successor scheme to the Basic Income for the Arts pilot as part of Budget 2026 (link)
- €4.9m announced for the promotion of Irish culture overseas (link)
- Over 1000 free events took place as part of Creative Ireland’s Cruinniú nan Óg (link)
- €271,404 in capital grants to arts and culture organisations for upgrading and development of facilities announced (link)
- €3m funding provided to the Irish Arts Centre in New York (link)
- €192,193 announced for the Regional Museum Exhibition Scheme (link)
- Launched the ‘Safe & Sound’ safety training Night-Time Economy initiative (link)
- €293,252 in grants announced for Small-Scale Local Festivals and Summer Schools (link)
- National Famine Commemoration took place in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick and International Commemoration of Irish Famine took place in Gaelic Park, Chicago, Illinois, honouring the memory of those who died during An Gorta Mór (link)
- Launched the Daniel O’Connell Commemorative Programme to mark 250th Anniversary of his birth (link)
- Announced public programme marking 1926 Census release of records by National Archives (link)
- Enhanced tax credit for low-to-medium budget film productions (link)
- Screen Ireland Irish language slate development fund announced (link)
- €500,000 in funding for music venues showcasing original grassroots performers increasing to €1million in 2026 (link)
- New €6m programme of capital funding for arts and culture organisations across the country, in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government (link)
COMMUNICATIONS
- New plan unveiled to protect Ireland’s Communication Networks from extreme weather (link)
- Measures put in place to improve emergency response in the telecommunications sector (link)
- National Broadband Ireland (NBI): over 564,000 premises in the Intervention Area and design work has been completed for 100% of these. NBI anticipated they would pass 420,000 premises by the end of 2025. NBI have exceeded that figure in already passing over 430,000 premises in the intervention area and are connecting on average 4,500 premises to their fibre network per month. Based on current plans and achievements, the Department expects to deliver the deployment of the NBP by the end of 2026, as per the Programme for Government commitment (link)
- Implementation of SMS sender registry to help prevent SMS text scams in Ireland (link)
- €15m per year for the next 5 years secured for Postmasters in the Post Office Network (link)
- Minister Patrick O’Donovan announces legislative proposal to give consumers more rights in relation to mobile and broadband price increases (link)
SPORT
- Record investment of €27 million in High Performance Sport for 2025 (link)
- Announced Sport Ireland’s 2025 core funding allocations, €31.3 million, to National Governing Bodies for sport, Local Sports Partnerships and other funded sporting bodies (link)
- Croke Park hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Minnesota Vikings, the NFL’s first regular-season game in Ireland (link)
- UEFA EURO 2028: confirmed that Ireland will host 7 games including 5 group games, a round of 16 game and a quarter final (link)
- Represented Ireland at the Ryder Cup ceremonies and marked Ireland hosting the tournament in 2027 (link)
- €4m funding for Women in Sport Programme (link)
- Publication of new International Sports Diplomacy Framework for Ireland (link)
- Munster Rugby Centre of Excellence received €2.7 million in funding from the Department under the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (link)
MEDIA AND BROADCASTING
- National Counter Disinformation Strategy published and funded secured in Budget 2026 for implementation as per programme for government commitment (link)
- Government approval of the General Scheme of the Media Regulation Bill (link)
- Published the Revised General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill (link)
- Announced €10m allocation to support public interest journalism (link)