Hanafin: Indoor arena is still a real possibility
Hanafin made her comments at Dublin Airport where she greeted European silver medalist Derval O’Rourke on her return from Barcelona.
O’Rourke had hit out over the weekend at the lack of such a facility in Ireland and the minister claimed that the opportunity to do so was “not lost” despite the economic downturn. Ms Hanafin admitted: “An indoor athletics track is still a possibility.
“I know that if it was started there would be some people who would say that’s a Celtic Tiger-type project and it should not be done.
“We have to find a balance in the funding process.
“We have the land and we have Abbotstown, so the opportunity is not lost.
“It is a matter of finding the right time to go with it.”
The minister heaped praise on the Cork star for her heroics in the 100m hurdles on Saturday night.
“I think that Derval’s silver medal performance has lifted the spirit of the nation,” she said.
O’Rourke described the reception she received yesterday as “a little overwhelming and a little scary”.
“I have had only about three hours sleep in the past 48 hours and so I am really looking forward to my bed. I see a few people here who I will be going out to dinner with tonight. That will give me a chance to relax and enjoy a few glasses of wine.”
O’Rourke now plans on taking just five days off training before getting back into her routine with coaches Sean and Terri Cahill and her strength and conditioning coach Mark McCabe.
“I understand that I have been picked to run on the European team in the Continental Cup in Croatia in September and that is exciting. I may also decide to compete in the Diamond League meeting in Brussels at the end of the month.”
In the wake of her success, O’Rourke was highly critical of the relationship that exists between the country’s top talents and the sports governing body, Athletics Ireland. Athletics Ireland president Liam Hennessy refused to be drawn on such specific comments yesterday, and instead preferred to focus on the positives for the future.
“Earlier this year we unveiled our High Performance Plan, which is a two-pronged plan for both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. The plan, which received a ringingendorsement from Jamie Costin, the athletes’ representative on the Olympic Council of Ireland, sets out to assist in every way top-level Irish athletes who in many cases have their own individual training programmes in place for the London Olympics.
“We have always wanted to assist rather than to disrupt individual training plans athletes have already in place. We have a separate plan in place for the outstanding crop of young athletes who are now coming through and who will be very much in the frame in 2016. We need this two-pronged approach plan for athletes at different stages of their careers. Athletics Ireland want to support athletes at every level of performance and the overall performances in Barcelona, although with some disappointments, did still deliver four national records, three personal bests, two fourth-place finishes and a silver medal.”
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