Caroline Ryan has been one of a small number of Irish track cyclists to take significance accolades in recent seasons, despite Ireland having no indoor velodrome; Cycling Ireland needs to pile the pressure on and keep it on until we get what we need.
By Brian Canty
Cycling Ireland president Denis Toomey believes an indoor cycling velodrome would lead to more medals on the European and World stage after Kildare woman Caroline Ryan became the latest to medal at a major event over the weekend.
The Garda CC member and world No 2 pursuiter stormed to a brilliant bronze medal in Saturday’s 3km individual pursuit ride-off against Anna Solovey of the Ukraine at the UCI World Cup in Mexico.
Following events there, attention quickly turned to the ongoing debate about building a velodrome on the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown in Dublin.
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Toomey revealed he will meet with Government officials in the coming weeks to present the results of a feasibility study that he, as well as senior officials at Badminton Ireland, completed about the possible construction of an indoor track.
The facility would also be used as a headquarters and shared training and competition base for Badminton Ireland.
“We’re hoping to meet the main people in the Department of Sport and Tourism before Christmas and follow that up with a meeting with Minister Leo Varadkar in the New Year,” he said.
“And if we can get them to buy into the idea, it will be brilliant for the future of cycling in Ireland.”
“Talks are only starting,” he warned.
“We’ve been asked to complete a feasibility study and we’ve done that in conjunction with Badminton Ireland and it has been proven to be quite feasible. But it will take a ballsy decision from the Minister to say ‘yes, we can make this happen’.”
“It will be between the Department, and the two national governing bodies working to get the funds but I think it is certainly very doable."
Toomey continued: “Badminton Ireland have 17,000 members, we’ve 20,000 members so I don’t think there’s a better opportunity to go to the Government with this proposal. It’s part of the Sports Campus in Abbotstown - right where it’s needed.”
And believes the velodrome is “essential” for Irish cycling’s future.
“A velodrome is the missing link in the chain at the moment,” he argued.
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“We’ll produce more Martyn Irvines, more Caroline Ryans and more Eoin Mullens with a track. Those people give up their lives to go out of the country to train so, imagine the amount of people that’d come up behind them if we had that velodrome in Ireland.”
“It’s essential we get it. They spend months at a time away from their families and it’s costing quite a lot to send them abroad; it would be so much better if they could just train in Dublin."
And with the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games approaching, Toomey said there must be no time wasted.
“There’s four options being looked at, all of which could be delivered within two years - a year before those going to Rio can train on.”
“By the time we (would) get through planning permission and get it developed, it could be done in 15 months. The options that have been priced in the feasibility study are between €6.5million and €7.5million, so it’s certainly not off the wall figures. It’s so do-able if we got the nod - but we need that nod.”
“It just ticks so many boxes; from getting the school kids in to have a safe place to learn the skills of the sport, to helping our own development squads, to the elite squad and for teams coming in from outside the country.”
“We think, based on the numbers and the dual role with Badminton Ireland, it would be self-financing from the start and you wouldn’t have to fund it through loans.”
“Minister Varadkar is a cyclist himself and gets out on his bike and I think he feels, from the chats we’ve had he can see the benefit of it and whether he can find the wherewithal to put the money up in the current climate… It would be incredible.”
“Everyone from the Irish Sports Council, the Olympic Council, Paralympics Ireland, Badminton Ireland are 100 per cent behind it, so it’s now or never.”
Cycling Ireland performance director and chief executive, Geoff Liffey echoed those sentiments, saying Ryan’s bronze at the weekend – the first ever medal by a woman at a World Cup meeting – further underlined the need for, and benefits that would flow from – a velodrome.
“Caroline won the bronze medal in the individual pursuit, bringing to close a great year for her and for Cycling Ireland,” he said.
“Over the last two years the Irish team has clocked up 38 medals at European and World level, across the Paralympic and Olympic programmes and 15 of those medals have been in track cycling, which is a remarkable achievement for a country without a velodrome.”
“It would be exciting to see what we could achieve with a facility at home that would allow much more talent to develop, as we have proven expertise in our coaching system.”
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