By Paul O’Donovan
“Sport is an investment in the future of young people in this country. So in future we will have a healthier society, healthier people and need less hospitals, and we can put more money into sport in the future. And when I come back I hope to see many more names on this list of international athletes from this Mullingar Harriers Club,” said Mr Michael Ring, TD, Minister for Sport, when he officially opened the new sprint lanes at Mullingar Harriers grounds in Grange, Mullingar, last Thursday afternoon, 23 October.
Greg Duggan, Competition Secretary and PRO at Mullingar Harriers Club, told Topic, “These new sprint lanes and tracks are a huge addition to the club. We have close to 300 members and when it gets very wet the grass track gets wet and slippy so the sprinters, hurdlers and long jump competitors can’t really use the grass track, as it would be too dangerous, so the new tartan track is ideal for the sprinters, hurdlers and long jump competitors. We prepare for the indoor events in November and December in the wet and cold so we now have a tartan track rather than go to Athlone or Tullamore on a Saturday for training. So the short sprint work and long jump work can be done on our own track here. The tartan track is 100m long with four lanes and the outside lane, the fourth lane turns into a long jump runway at one end so it is a marvellous addition to the club here in Mullingar,” concluded Mr Duggan.
In front of a very large crowd of young children, adults, coaches, parents, councillors and club members, Minister Ring said, “I want to compliment the committee on the great work they have done. For small money this committee and this club have done a brilliant job. It is a credit to all. We, the government, gave a grant but the club members did a lot of fundraising too, and when I see these happy faces of the children here I am very pleased. This great work and the new facilities here will mean there will be many, many more names going on this list of Mullingar athletes who have represented their country,” as he pointed towards the commemorative plaque hanging in the clubhouse with a long list of names of athletes from Mullingar who have represented Ireland.
The Minister went on to say, “I am delighted this club is being used by nine clubs. We have great facilities in this country but I want to see facilities shared with various clubs.
PRAISE FOR
VOLUNTEERS
The Minister also praised the work of the volunteers within the club saying, “I want to say to the volunteers, thank you on behalf of the government for the work that you do for sport in this country, ‘cause if it wasn’t for volunteers we wouldn’t have all the sporting organisations in this country.”
“To the children I want to say I hope you appreciate what your parents do for you and the hard work they do to create these excellent facilities for you. I hope you use these facilities, respect these facilities and respect your parents.”
EXTRA SPORTS FUNDING
Before concluding the Minister also disclosed more good news with the announcement that there is more funding on the way for sports clubs.
Minister Ring said, “I am delighted to announce that following a recent meeting, the government have agreed to another, a third Sports Capital Programme, which is great news for all sports clubs in the midlands”.
This marvellous news was greeted with a massive round of applause by all those in attendance who then left the hall to go outside for the official opening of the new tracks. Not surprisingly this was followed by the first test of the new tracks by all the enthusiastic young athletes who sprinted up and down the lanes. The future for Athletics in Mullingar is indeed very bright.
