Community Finance Ireland: loans for community groups, sports clubs and social enterprises

What you can borrow and what for

Community Finance Ireland is a charity. It made its first loan in Northern Ireland in 2001, as the Ulster Community Investment Trust, and its first in the Republic in 2007. It now works in all 32 counties, and its office for the Republic is in Ardee, Co Louth.

It offers long-term loans, short-term loans and bridging finance, secured or unsecured. Its own site gives a range of €10,000 to €600,000. A guide published in May 2026 by the Social Finance Foundation, which funds it, describes loans from €10,000 up to €1 million, so ask if you need more than €600,000.

Loans can pay for:

• buying, building or renovating a building
• equipment
• restructuring existing debt
• cash shortfalls and working capital
• bridging a Sports Capital grant, a LEADER grant, a GAA grant or a local authority grant

Most loans run for 10 years and the longest is generally 15. The application form allows bridging loans of up to 36 months.

It does not publish its interest rates. It says to ask the client relationship manager for your area, who will quote a rate and a monthly repayment. There is no arrangement fee on term loans, and you can pay off lump sums at any time without penalty.

Who can apply

Community Finance Ireland says it lends to:

• community projects, including charities, social enterprises and faith-based initiatives
• all sports clubs, including GAA, soccer, rugby, tennis, athletics, water sports and golf

The Social Finance Foundation's guide says the organisations that qualify are usually non-profits, charities, co-operatives, sports clubs and companies limited by guarantee. They must have a social or community purpose and not a purely profit-driven one.

Community Finance Ireland says a successful application has a clear reason for the project, a clearly defined legal structure, a competent management team, a sound financial model and all the paperwork on its checklist.

Who cannot borrow

Community Finance Ireland says plainly that it does not:

• lend to private businesses or individuals
• lend to projects outside the third sector, that is, the community and voluntary sector
• offer grants

Its application form repeats the point: it does not currently lend to individuals or to privately owned small and medium businesses.

If that is you, look at a State-backed business loan of €2,000 to €50,000 instead, or use our loan finder to match your business to lenders that will consider it.

What you have to send

The online form asks about the organisation and its legal form, what it does with any surplus, the loan you want, where the repayments will come from, your cash and debts, the total project cost and how many volunteers you have.

The checklist says some or all of these will be needed as well:

• your constitution, or your memorandum and articles and certificate of incorporation
• a list of directors or committee members, with their occupations and skills
• signed audited accounts for the last three years
• three years of financial projections, for a term loan
• a 12-month cashflow showing your own money, fundraising, grants, project costs and the loan repayments
• the latest bank statement for every account
• signed tender contracts or professional estimates for each project cost
• a business plan covering the social impact of the project, your pricing, your fundraising plan and the history of the organisation

If you have already been awarded a grant, it says most of the paperwork will mirror what you sent with the grant application.

How to apply, step by step

1. Fill in the online application form, or send a short enquiry first. The form has five steps, and you can save it and come back to it within 30 days.
2. A client relationship manager based in your region contacts you within 48 hours.
3. Community Finance Ireland reviews the application in detail. It may ask for accounts and a budget, and it looks at whether the project is feasible. This typically takes a week.
4. Its credit team makes a decision, usually within 1 to 2 weeks.
5. If you are approved, a letter of offer sets out the amount, the interest rate, the repayment schedule and any special conditions. Legal work, where it is needed, generally takes a few weeks.
6. The money is paid out in one sum or in instalments, once the paperwork is complete.

The office for the Republic is on 041 685 8637.

Bridging a grant you have been awarded

Sports clubs make up just over half of its clients. A club that has been approved for a Sports Capital and Equipment grant can borrow to get the work started and keep it moving until the grant is paid.

It also bridges an approved LEADER rural development grant, GAA grants and local authority grants. Say in your first enquiry that you have a grant offer.

Two other lenders serve community groups too: Clann Credo, the other social lender funded by the Social Finance Foundation, and, in seven western counties, the Western Development Commission's community loan fund.

Common questions