UCD apologise for handling of track closure in Dublin...

 

University College Dublin director of sport Brian Mullins has apologised for the way the college authorities handled the track closure. Last week, they closed the track for 'Safety' reasons and then proceded to dig up the track straight away without any warning. In an interview, Mullins said...."We had a report that indicated we were taking a (safety) chance every day we left it open, but we did not communicate this very well to our students and other athletics people and I apologise openly for that". One of the most vehement critics of the sudden closure was Senator Eamonn Coghlan and he is among those whom UCD have now enlisted to serve on a task-force to fast-track a replacement facility on the other side of the Belfield campus.

Mullins admitted that the track was allowed to go into disrepair because the campus layout has changed dramatically in recent years and all of the university's newer sports facilities have deliberately been grouped at the Clonskeagh end of the extensive grounds. "Apart from a few remaining soccer pitches the track was the last remaining outpost and it was decided not to invest in repairing hard-earned money into something that was going to be shifted in due course," he said. UCD has had planning permission for a track near its sports centre at Clonskeagh since 2009, but those plans were then hit by the recession. Mullins said: "We're quite positive now that we will get commitment for the funding soon and will move to deliver a replacement track as quickly as possible."