Chairman of Ireland's track commission Aidan Reade says Ireland could mirror the success of New Zealand on the track if we had one of our own.
By Brian Canty
Chairman of Cycling Ireland's track commission, Aidan Reade, said he still strongly believes a velodrome will be built in the Republic in the coming years, adding the project was “probably at stage four of a 10-step process”.
The Galway man expressed his disappointment that the long-awaited indoor track would not be built next year after the Government failed to allocate any funding in its overall Budget for 2016 unveiled the week before last.
But he’s confident “the sod can be turned in 2017 and when it is, the track will be built very quickly”.
“I went to my local TD Ciarán Cannon (Galway East) last week and the moment I went through the door of his office he knew what my visit was all about," explained Reade.
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"He knows the story and knew my back was up over the lack of funding for the track from government. But we want to stress it’s still in the pipeline, it’s still happening."
Reade noted how €25m had just been allocated for the national gymnastics arena – a project that was in the pipeline long before Cycling Ireland announced its own plans for a velodrome.
“We’re at about step four of a 10-step process and we should have the funding allocated after the (gymnastics arena) is built," Reade said.
"But we’re ahead of rugby getting their own indoor facility. We are in line.”
The track in Invercargill, New Zealand; a country with three indoor tracks despite being a small nation like Ireland.
Such is his commitment to progressing the issue that Reade met with Taoiseach Enda Kenny at an informal gathering in Dublin on Thursday.
“I went up to Dublin because I had a meeting anyway with Cycling Ireland but I cycled over to the Dáil, dressed in my suit; I said I was going to go with style,” he explained.
“I did it in a casual approach, not to aggressively lobby him. But it’s important to let them know where we stand on it.
“We need all politicians to know that it’s a home for cycling what we’re after; it has improved cycling in Australia no end.
"It all started for Team GB when they got a track in 1995 and New Zealand, a country the same size as Ireland, is building a third velodrome
"They've a track built on Invercargill, a place in the middle of nowhere. It’d be like building it on Inis Boffin!”
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Reade, like many others, is of the belief such a facility would change the face of cycling here.
“It would change cycling in this country forever, on every level.
"We’d be competitive on the world stage, riders would come into the Rás absolutely flying and the level of performance would go through the roof.
“I know they have a handy set-up in Majorca but its only accessed by the few," he explained of the near year-round presence in Spain for those selected onto the national track squad.
"I’ve never been there, I can’t afford to take time out of work. I had to take a working holiday to get to the world track masters championships.”
So far Irish riders have had to contend with outdoor tracks in Dublin and Belfast but the push is now on for an indoor velodrome which would also house Cycling Ireland's headquarters at the Abbottstown Sports Campus in Dublin (Photo by [email protected])
Reade said that along with a Cycling Ireland delegation he would be sitting down with the Taoiseach “this side of Christmas” as a matter of urgency.
“I’m confident that this won’t get kicked down the road for too long more," Reade added.
"But my main grief with Cycling Ireland is getting them to engage and involve the people that are involved with track cycling now; the coaches and the volunteers.
“This is the same volunteer force that’ll run the velodrome for free, this will save running costs drastically.
“We need to go to tendering because when that’s the case there’s contracts involved and there’s no going back then."
Reade said it was important to meet with Enda Kenny and for Cycling Ireland to emerge from those talks with some definite and tangible progress around when tendering would begin.
“If it goes to tender its’ like turning the sod, it’s happening. I suspect the turning of the sod will take place in 2017 and the building would go up quickly.
“It’s effectively a wooden track in a big barn; they can put up six-day tracks in weekends so it’s not a hard thing (to build).”
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