First all-weather racecourse in Ireland gets go-ahead

Ireland’s first all-weather racecourse at Dundalk has officially been given the go-ahead after the board of Horse Racing Ireland approved maximum grant aid of €10.276m for the project.

The track staged turf racing until 2001 and it will now start work to get ready for a launch in spring 2007.

It plans to stage 25 meetings in the first year of operation.

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’Donoghue said: “Dundalk’s new all-weather racetrack will make history on a number of fronts; Ireland’s first all-weather track, our first floodlit racetrack and the first combined horse and greyhound racing facility.

“It is an ambitious project and I am sure it will be a successful one and a wonderful sporting and social asset for Dundalk, the North East and the entire border region.”

Chairman of Horse Racing Ireland Denis Brosnan added: “In our strategic plan for the industry published in 2003 we made racecourse development and improvement the focus of our activity and undertook to create Ireland’s first all-weather racecourse.

“I am delighted to see that promise coming to fruition and I congratulate Dundalk chairman, Leo McCauley and chief executive Jim Martin for the vision which they have shown, the work which has gone into the creation of their business plan and the level of investment which they have secured.

“I would also like to thank the minister and in doing so, acknowledge that the funding structures which he has created for horse and greyhound racing industries have given us the basis for long-term planning and enabled the creation of the Racecourse Capital Development Fund, which will see over €110m in HRI grant aid allocated to racecourse projects in the coming years.

“These grants will be matched by funding put up by the racecourses themselves.”

HRI also approved a €1.7m development of the facilities at Killarney.