Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena Officially Opened
New National Indoor Arena Opened at Sport Ireland's Abbotstown Campus
Abbotstown, Dublin
Thursday January 26th 2017
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D., officially opens Sport Ireland's new Indoor Arena - Photo: The Journal.ie
The Athletics Ireland National Senior Indoor Championships will be held at the facility on Saturday and Sunday February 18th & 19th
The state-of-the-art training and events centre, situated at the heart of the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus at Abbotstown, comprises indoor gymnastics and athletics training centres.
Two years to the day, since the sod was turned on the new Indoor Arena, at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, the long awaited and much needed state-of-the-art facility includes the National Indoor Athletics Training Centre, National Gymnastics Training Centre and a National Indoor Training Centre catering for over twenty different sports.
Opening the new arena, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “ I am delighted to officially open the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena today.
"This most impressive facility is a very welcome addition to Ireland’s sporting infrastructure and I look forward to the many events which the Arena will host of the coming months and years.
"I would like to congratulate all involved with the development of this facility, and wish Sport Ireland the very best for the future.”
The Athletics Training Centre features a retractable 200m banked running track, 60m and 110m sprint tracks, and throw, jump and pole-vault areas. There is permanent seating for 400 spectators, along with changing, medical and media facilities. The Indoor Training Centre is a designed to host a wide range of sports.
Speaking this morning, Minister for Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross said: “The development of the Indoor Arena, with its tremendous indoor athletics track, world-class Gymnastics Centre and expansive indoor training facilities, fills an important gap in our national sporting infrastructure."
The Minister called the new facility was "totemic", and told reporters that its potential was "absolutely fantastic". He said: "It's phenomenal for sport, and it's phenomenal for the country and I think the important thing is that it's open to the big battalions of Irish sport, but that it's open to the public and individuals that are keen on sport."
He confirmed that funding for phase two of the arena - which will see the construction of a velodrome, and other facilities – would be part-funded, following a review of capital expenditure later this year. "Sport Ireland is looking at ways of selling some land and maybe borrowing for that, but we're looking also, as the Taoiseach said, at funding it through the capital review as well".
RTE's Video on Sport Ireland website
“The Sport Ireland National Sports Campus is providing access for an ever-wider range of sports and has truly grown to become the home of Irish sport. This new arena will not only provide world-class training facilities but will also present opportunities to attract major events to Ireland."
“I have no doubt that we will see many international events take place in this facility which, as well as enhancing our international sports reputation, will also contribute to the growth of our sports tourism industry, the fastest growing sector in tourism.”
The opening of the National Indoor Arena heralds another vital piece in Sport Ireland’s plans, as it continues with its strategy to develop a world-class sports campus in west Dublin.
Sport Ireland chairman Kieran Mulvey said “Sport Ireland is delighted to have reached the stage where we are opening the new Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena. The new arena will have an impact on athletes of all levels with the facilities catering for the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus participation programmes right through to our top athletes.
I am delighted that the campus has already secured bookings for a number of high-profile events and I look forward to seeing many people come through the doors in the future.”
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Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy called the arena the "missing piece" in terms of Ireland's sports facilities.
"If you look around [the arena], you can only be blown away by it. It's fantastic to see the athletes utilising it today and trying it out for themselves for the first time.
"We'll be hosting the National Championships here in February, and it's a world class facility where Irish athletes can finally train without having to go overseas. That's what it's about."
Minister of State for Sport and Tourism Patrick O'Donovan said that the facility has a "wow factor" and that it was expected that it would go a long way toowards helping Ireland Olympians compete at Tokyo 2020.
He said: "We want the best chance of competing in Tokyo. If you look back 20 years to what they've done in New Zealand, a country of a similar size and similar population, we're hoping to be able to achieve something similar."
