Kate O’Connor’s heroics over a twelve-day stretch have seen her win a bronze at the European Indoor Championships as well as silver at last weekend’s World Indoor Championships. Her stellar efforts have undoubtedly inspired a wave of the next generation’s athletes and now it looks like that new generation will finally have a home athletics track to call their own.
Growing up, Kate was fortunate enough to have parents who were able to drive her up and down the country to help her train in proper facilities which currently aren’t available in Dundalk. However, that luxury is not available to everybody, which means that some of our brightest young athletic talents are not given the support they need to prosper and elevate their performances to the next level.
At Monday’s monthly Louth County Council meeting it was revealed that contracts for the long mooted athletics track in Dundalk will be signed in the coming weeks. It is believed that officials are hoping to tie in the announcement of the signing of the contracts with a joint civic reception which is being planned for April 10th to celebrate the achievements of both Kate O’Connor and Eve McCrystal.
In further good news for local athletes it was also revealed at Monday’s meeting that arrangements have been made to open the Lourdes stadium in Drogheda in April and May for a number of Sundays. The decision to shut the Lourdes Stadium in Drogheda last June to both the public and sporting organisations on Sundays was met with anger but it seems that decision has at least been partially reversed with the news that the stadium will be open on a number of Sundays over the next two months.
For years there have been calls locally for a Municipal Athletics Track to be built in Dundalk and although work has begun on the former Pitch and Putt course in Muirhevnamór (Muirhevnamór District Park) progress has been slow with Louth County Council initially announcing the construction of a brand new athletics track back in 2018. The turning of the sod in 2019 marked the beginning of the ambitious project which at the time had an estimated cost of €1.6m.
In 2021 work on the new Municipal Athletics Track in Dundalk resumed with phase two beginning as contractors return to the site at the old Pitch and Putt course in Muirhevnamor.
That phase saw grass seeds being put down as well as a new fence being installed the whole way around what will be the new track.
The new track would initially see the development of a grass track and a general training area which will be used by local athletics clubs as well as the general community. Cllr. Maeve Yore who has been banging the drum for a new Athletics track for most of the past decade stated she was delighted with the positive update received from Louth County Council during Monday’s monthly meeting.
“I’ve been dealing with this issue for seven or eight years now and there have been so many false dawns. I have been working very closely with the 11 athletics clubs in Louth and all of our brilliantly talented athletes deserve a proper track to train on. We have so much local talent and with the success of Kate in recent weeks this is an ideal opportunity to finally get this project up and running. Kate’s achievements are going to inspire a whole new generation of local athletes and it is imperative we have a state of the art track for them sooner rather than later. I am delighted and excited that the contracts for the stadium will be signed in the coming weeks and it finally looks like this is actually going to happen,” stated Maeve.
Meanwhile Kate O’Connor is back on home soil after returning from China with a silver medal in her possession after a magnificent performance in the Pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships.
Speaking yesterday morning at Dublin airport on her arrival back from China Kate admitted the scale of her achievements probably haven’t fully sunk in yet.
“It’s madness. Even just the support here at the airport for me today is crazy. I’m just trying to soak it all in and savour the moment. There was a photo posted online there of me pictured alongside Sonia O’Sullivan and Dervla O’Rourke and it’s just so surreal to me that my name is being compared to those two women. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in what has happened. It will probably take a few weeks to actually realise what I’ve done but yeah, I’m just trying to relish the moment as much as I can.
Speaking about the special bond she has with her father who is also her coach, Kate described the partnership as very special.
“It’s so special. Having a father-daughter coaching relationship is something that not everybody can do but it is a special one. You get to travel the world together and win global medals together and that is something I will definitely cherish for the rest of my life.
“A few weeks off and maybe a couple of parties here and there who know but yeah enjoy a few weeks off and then get back to work to get ready for the summer competitions,” stated Kate.
