The statement by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe that no decision has been made on funding the long promised national velodrome will surprise many in the cycling community. Above, the velodrome in Los Angeles is a shared cycling and badminton facility, just like the project mooted for Dublin.
With the long-mooted plans for the national velodrome in Dublin having apparently inched forward in the last couple of years, the Government has now said no decision on funding for the project has been made.
Instead, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe said if the funding needed for the project was allocated, it would be provided for in the budget estimates in the autumn.
He was replying to a parliamentary question from Tom Fleming TD.
The Independent Dáil Deputy for Kerry asked Donohoe “when his Department will allocate funding for the national cycling velodrome and badminton arena, which has planning permission in Abbotstown in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter”.
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The non committal nature of the Minister's reply and his admission that the project has not been earmarked any funding and must compete with all of the other demands being placed on the public finances at budget time will surprise many in the cycling community.
It was felt the Government was more clearly committed to the track and that funding, while not yet allocated, was only a matter of time.
“The National Sports Campus Development Authority has developed a proposal, in conjunction with the relevant National Governing Bodies of Sport, for the development of a National Velodrome and Badminton Centre at the National Sports Campus,” Donohoe said.
“No decision has been made regarding the provision of Exchequer funding for this project.
"The proposal will be presented as part of the Estimates discussions between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
“Any decision regarding funding is a matter for the Budget announcement.”
There has already been very significant slippage to the timeline for the velodrome project sketched out by Cycling Ireland president Denis Toomey this time last year.
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Minister Donohoe's response comes 12 months after the project’s progress seemed to have finally gained significant ground.
Last July a contract was signed between the National Sports Campus Development Authority and Tobin Consulting Engineers to bring a velodrome to the planning stage.
The velodrome would also be the headquarters of Badminton Ireland, who would have 16 courts in the centre of the 250 metre banked indoor track.
“It was coming for a while,” explained Cycling Ireland president Denis Toomey when the contract to bring the project to the planning stage was signed last year.
Toomey suggested at the time it could be the end of this year when the project was completed, with Cycling Ireland at the mercy of the government for the bulk of the funding needed to complete the track and new headquarters for the federation.
“We’ll be able to bring a lot more riders into the (national track) programme with a velodrome and at the moment we’re looking at the end of October (2014) by the time the planning is done,” he said.
“It’s all down to when the money will be released for construction,” he said.
While the details of where the cash would come from had not been fully agreed last year, Toomey said at the time the State would be the main funder but that both Cycling Ireland and Badminton Ireland would be required to make a contribution.
“I’d be very confident we’ll get support from our members and come up with what we need to come up with,” Toomey said of that section of the funding that must be generated by the federation.
“There has been no opposition. At the start there was potentially three velodromes being built but two have gone off the radar so we’re back to Abbotstown.
"And that’s the right place to have it in my view, with all the other governing bodies.”
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