The Olympic Council of Ireland "welcomed the restoration of €300,000" ($352,600) of government funding for '17, according to Paul Hosford of the IRISH JOURNAL. The decision to restore the funding was announced by Ireland Minister for Sport Shane Ross on Thursday. The payment had been withheld pending the outcome of the Moran Inquiry into the ticketing scandal at the Rio 2016 Games and the implementation of a report into the OCI. Ross said that the board of Sport Ireland, which administers the funding, was "satisfied that the OCI is spending funds on athlete-related activities." The funding relates to '17; the '18 funding for the OCI will be given as normal (IRISH JOURNAL, 12/15). The BBC reported then-OCI President Pat Hickey was arrested and charged in Brazil over alleged ticket touting during the Rio Games. OCI President Sarah Keane, who succeeded Hickey in February, said that the Irish Olympic governing body would now be able to "move confidently ahead with our athlete-centred plans for 2018 and beyond." Keane added, "The decision to restore state funding is recognition of the hard work that has taken place this year at the OCI to transform its governance arrangements and the efforts made to tackle some of the other legacy issues arising from the Rio Games" (BBC, 12/14).
