News emerged this week that Cuchulainn CC in Co Louth has, with the help of Dundalk Institute of Technology, secured a building in Dundalk to house an indoor velodrome.
Cycling Ireland is to join those two parties in applying for a grant to cover much of the cost of constructing the velodrome in the old JJB Sports building.
While those plans are now at full steam, with the funding application to be lodged by the end of the month, Cycling Ireland has said it plays to keep in play its long-standing campaign to secure a purpose built velodrome in the Abbottstown sports campus in west Dublin.
That idea would see Cycling Ireland share the venue with Badminton Ireland; with badminton courts set to be installed in the middle of the velodrome and ancillary facilities to be shared.
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Cycling Ireland has recently been told by the Department of Sport that funding for the €7 million facility would not be available for two or three years, at which time the plans would be revisited.
Meanwhile in Dundalk, Cuchulainn CC believes it could get the mooted track there operational by the end of this year.
In the amazing time-lapse video above, you can see how the team putting on the Zurich Six Day does it a whole lot faster.
They share their space with an ice hockey stadium, simply building a velodrome over and around the ice when it’s needed and reinstating the hockey field and its seating when the racing is over.
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The recent story of Irish trackies
Caroline Ryan’s medal at the UCI World Cup in Mexico in December was her first in track cycling’s showpiece annual series and also the first for any Irish female rider.
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But it was just the latest in a series of milestones for our emerging track scene in Ireland; despite having no indoor velodrome.
Ryan's bronze in the individual pursuit in Mexico followed a medal of the same colour in the points race at the World Championships in Melbourne almost two years ago.
In the 20 months between those two achievements, Martyn Irvine has won two silver medals and a gold at UCI World Cup track meetings – in Glasgow and Manchester.
He has also taken the world title in the scratch race, silver in the worlds pursuit and a bronze in the omnium at last summer's European Championships.
Ryan Mullen has also visited the podium at a major championships since Caroline Ryan took her Worlds medal, winning two bronzes at the U23 European Championships last year.
Now an An Post-Chainreaction rider, Mullen told stickybottle in an interview late last year that when he saw Australian Jack Bobridge claim the world title in the pursuit in world record time he found that very inspiring, adding he would love one day to achieve a major accolade on the track.
Given his horsepower against the watch on the road and track, very few would bet against him.
Another Irish rider emerging onto the international scene is Eoin Mullen. From the Arran Islands, he has been coached full time at the UCI's centre of excellence in Switzerland in recent years and is in with a very strong chance of making the next Olympics; as is Ryan Mullen.
Martyn Irvine and Caroline Ryan still have to qualify for Rio 2016 too, but given their results in recent years, it would be astonishing if both did not get there.
Both are preparing for the World Track Championships in Colombia in three weeks, with Ryan confirmed just this week as having regained her World No 1 position for pursuiting in the latest UCI rankings.
Aside from that powerful quartet, Ireland has also been very dominant in track paracycling.
In total, Ireland has won 15 medals on the track at major championships, a remarkable achievement for a nation without a velodrome; underlining what could be achieved with such a facility.
Caroline Ryan on the podium in Mexico taking receipt of her first ever medal at a UCI World Cup; the first ever by an Irish woman. Her success in December was the latest in a series of rides that have ushered Irish track racing firmly onto the world stage.
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