Foyle Cup ‘did not score well’ on 10 criteria

Tourism Minister Arlene Foster said the Foyle Cup application in February failed to make the grade and that any applications raising concern were marked again to ensure fairness. A separate application by the organisers of the Milk Cup was also rejected.

Foyle MLA Mark H. Durkan asked the Minister to explain the NI Tourist Board’s decision to reject the Foyle Cup and the Milk Cup applications for funding.

She explained that the NITB Events Fund was developed to support the draft DETI Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland to 2020 in delivering increased visitors and spend to Northern Ireland.

But the applications for funding from the two landmark youth football competitions were not up to scratch.

“The Foyle Cup and the Milk Cup applied to the new NITB funding scheme in February 2011. Unfortunately they did not score well across the ten key criteria to be eligible for funding,” she advised.

“NITB took a holistic approach to scoring and events must score well in each criteria, and demonstrate how they met the criteria to be awarded points. The ten key criteria are; Product and Customer Fit, Visitor Numbers, Economic Impact, Media Impact, Event Viability and Management Experience, Capacity for Growth, NI Brand, Environmental Sustainability, Social Impact, and Universal Accessibility,” she added.

The Minister also explained that two assessors separately scored each application before agreeing a final score. If there were any doubts about fairness the applications were scored again.

“All applications were assessed using a scoring matrix. Each application was scored twice and a final score agreed between the two assessors. Those applications that raised concerns were marked again to ensure accuracy and fairness of their scores. For all applicants’ only the information provided with the application form was scored against,” she stated.