The long-planned new indoor velodrome in west Dublin will be used for other indoor sports, rather than just cycling and badminton, Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht Jack Chambers TD (Ff) has said.
It has been envisaged for some time that Cycling Ireland and Badminton Ireland would share the facility, as both can co-exist in a purpose built velodrome with provision made for a sport like badminton.
However, the remarks by Mr Chambers in recent replies to questions about the velodrome from Ciarán Cannon TT (FG) appears to be the first time the velodrome building has been mooted as a venue for other sports. Indeed, Mr Chambers said it could be used in a significant way for other “indoor sports”, though he did not specify which ones.
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Mr Chambers told Mr Cannon he accepted the point he raised, that the velodrome planned for the National Sports Campus in Abbottstown, west Dublin, “has been spoken about for many years”. But he insisted while the planning had been protracted, the project was advancing.
“The velodrome and badminton centre project is a priority for us. It is a key project referenced in the national development plan,” he said. We have a draft master plan we are progressing.
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“There is funding this year to advance its planning and design and it is something we want to progress properly. That is why it is signalled and specified in the national development plan.
“I accept that within the broader cycling community it has been spoken about for many years but we are anxious to progress it. I have spoken to Sport Ireland in recent weeks about the need to advance this project.
“We are all on the one page in trying to do that. It is a major project. We will not only have a velodrome in the centre but it will have major potential for multi-use in sport and in what it can do for other indoor sports. It will have major potential on the sports campus.”
He added a 2022 allocation of €9.6 million would allow Sport Ireland to complete ongoing projects “and progress the planning and design on the national velodrome and badminton centre”.
Mr Cannon, an avid cyclist who has campaign for safer cycling conditions on the Republic’s roads, raised the ongoing delays around the velodrome with Mr Chambers, saying the cycling community was “anxious” to finally see its construction get underway.
“New Zealand, which is similar in size to Ireland, has two national indoor velodromes,” he told Mr Chambers. “(The velodromes are) beginning to produce very positive results in terms of New Zealand's participation in the sport of cycling from the grassroots up and success at international cycling competitions with wins and medals awarded. It is beginning to have an impact. Something similar could happen in Ireland as soon as we get our national velodrome under way.”
