Cork Racecourse in spotlight for Euro host bid

IRELAND’S bid for the 2005 European cross-country championships will be taken a stage further next week when an evaluation committee from the European Athletics Association will visit Cork.

Cork Racecourse at Mallow has been selected as the proposed venue should the AAI succeed with their bid to host the event but international secretary Liam Hennessy said yesterday there was still quite a way to go.

“I would be confident our package is as good and as exciting as any other put forward and we have a perfect venue in Cork Racecourse,” Hennessy said. “There is also a huge amount of goodwill and the local organisation is ready to put on a show on a par with anything we have seen elsewhere.

“But how we will finance the event will be critical and we will be looking to Bord Failte, the Irish Sports Council and local initiative for much of this,” he added.

Coming to Cork next week will be Karel Pilny, the treasurer of the EAA and the chairman of the Technical Committee, Jorge Salcedo, as well as a representative of the European Broadcasting Union who will televise the event across Europe. They will visit Cork Racecourse and will be discussing items like budgets, marketing, travel and accommodation.

The delegation will also meet with people in Cork who will be involved with the championships should the AAI get the nod.

The racecourse in Mallow has hosted national events and in 1979 hosted the World Military Championships.