National Velodrome and Badminton Centre Approved for Sport Ireland Campus
Ministers Catherine Martin and Thomas Byrne have confirmed funding for the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus. This is a significant milestone for the future development and growth of cycling in Ireland.
The indoor velodrome, will be the first of its kind in Ireland. It will benefit people of all ages and abilities, from those getting on a track for the first time to our elite riders who compete at World and Olympic level. With this facility we will get more people physically active and enjoying cycling in a safe environment, growing participation levels in all disciplines.
The velodrome will host a range of events and programmes, catering for everything from balance bike sessions for Under 6’s to adults over 65, and everyone in between.
The velodrome is planned to be built near the Indoor Sports Arena and will not only provide a state of the art training and competition facility for track cyclists but will also include courts for badminton in the centre of the track, fully utilising the space for both sports.
The facility will comprise of a 250 metre cycling track, with up to 12 badminton courts located in the in-track area, along with spectator seating and ancillary facilities.
The facility will give both sports a platform to grow participation numbers as well as high performance programmes. This will offer cyclists in particular an opportunity to train and race on home soil more regularly and not have to travel abroad to train in top level facilities.
Speaking about the announcement, Cycling Ireland CEO James Quilligan said:
“I greatly welcome this announcement which is a game changer in the development of our sport. On behalf of Cycling Ireland, I wish to thank Minsters Martin and Byrne, and Sport Ireland for their support and commitment. The National Velodrome will greatly benefit all cycling from grassroots to high performance. We look forward to working with all stakeholders over the coming months.
Thank you all those of have advocated for a National Velodrome for the last number of years. A special thanks to Cycling Ireland members who have been very strong advocates of the project. Thank you to Sport Ireland CEO, Dr Una May, for such strong support and assistance on getting the project to this stage.”
Sport Ireland CEO Dr. Una May welcomed the announcement: “It’s exactly the sort of continued investment that is absolutely crucial for boosting participation from grassroots levels to elite athletes.”