Kilkenny Olympian and Irish team-mates to get indoor track - at last!

Ireland's cycling legacy is set to go up another gear after it has been announced that the country's first ever indoor track is to be developed at the National Sports Campus.

With Ireland's Olympic campaign set to begin in the coming days - the team, featuring Kilkenny's Mia Griffin, will be in action on Tuesday - news of the construction of a national velodrome will be welcomed in sporting circles.

The announcement was made by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, and the Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, Thomas Byrne TD, who gave approval for the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre project to proceed to tender.

Along with Ireland’s first-ever indoor cycling track, a 12-court state of the art badminton centre will be included in new national sports facility.

The facility will comprise of a 250 metre cycling track and up to 12 badminton courts in the in-track area, in addition to spectator seating and ancillary facilities. It will be located in the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown and is scheduled to be completed in 2027 which will mean that Ireland's track cyclists, in particular, will no longer need to travel abroad to train.
The news will be a welcome boost to the future of cycling, which will reach new heights when Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy feature in the Women’s Team Pursuit qualifying at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Tuesday at 4.30pm.

Ireland made sure of their place in Paris when they secured a berth at the Nations Cup in Hong Kong but, with no national indoor velodrome, the team have had to travel to Spain to train. Building the facility, Griffin reckons, will be great for the sport.

"Once we have an indoor velodrome the sky will be the limit for the sport," she said. "I think it will be a great investment because you get out what you put in with track cycling. There are so many girls who would be so good at cycling, while it would also be a great avenue into the professional side of the sport. There are many more opportunities, especially on the roads, so having track squads could offer that route for the next generation."

Ireland’s track team will get their Olympic campaign underway on Tuesday, August 6, with the women’s Team Pursuit qualifying. Should they be successful they’ll go on to compete in round one and the finals on Wednesday, August 7.