Cycling Ireland chief executive, James Quilligan, has said the proposed new indoor velodrome in Limerick City can act as a satellite facility to the new international-standard velodrome is also built in Dublin.
The national governing body has now teamed up with University of the Shannon (TUS) to build the new indoor €15.4 million indoor velodrome in Limerick, with planning permission already having been applied for.
Quilligan said the development of a second velodrome would be an all of island asset and could benefit cycling at every level, not just high performance.
“Cycling Ireland operates across all cycling disciplines and is dedicated to promoting and developing new state-of-the-art facilities on the island of Ireland," he said said.
“We are excited that the development of such a facility in Limerick will help develop the sport here and allow international athletes to train here.
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"By providing a community-based facility with a 200m velodrome track, it will encourage participation in the sport and can act as a satellite feeder to the Sport Ireland Campus velodrome for events, competitions, and the development of future representative cyclists.”
President of TUS, Prof Vincent Cunnane, said the mooted new velodrome - which would be part of a multiple-purpose sports and university facility on the Technological University’s Coonagh Campus - was part of a wider process of developing and contributing to the local community.
"The shared values of the university and Cycling Ireland provide the foundations for a strong relationship to meet these goals, working together to provide much needed sport facilities for athletes, while also opening up opportunities and state-of-the-art facilities on the north side of Limerick city and the wider region," he said.
"With our new campus at Coonagh, we have capacity for sports developments and the ideally positioned, multi-use arena incorporating a velodrome will help the development of the north side of the city, while offering wider benefits to Limerick and to the Midwest.”
Jimmy Browne, Vice President of Campus Services and Capital Development at TUS said: “We want to continue providing high quality facilities to help increase participation in sport, as well as providing quality facilities for the region in line with our Campus Masterplan. This facility will form part of our broader City North Sports Park at Coonagh.
"Limerick has transport infrastructure that makes it easily accessible to most of the country, together with the proximity to Shannon Airport, which makes Limerick an ideal location to also support plans for the national centre in Abbotstown.”
