Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what contribution her Department made towards the cost of the staging of the Giro d’Italia in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

Sport is a devolved matter therefore there is no provision for the Northern Ireland Office to contribute to the funding of the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia.

The Giro d’Italia is supported by Northern Ireland Tourist Board and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.

My officials have, at the request of the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, engaged with the Home Office and several of our Embassies over the past fortnight, to help facilitate the granting of visas to some of the elite riders and help deal with queries that they have raised.