On the 14th of September 2023, the new athletics track in Newcastle West in Co Limerick was officially opened by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. As you can seen from the photo above, the track is also floodlit which is essential for the dark winter months.
Up to now, most athletic tracks have been in cities like Cork, Limerick and Waterford. This is one of the first of a new wave of athletic tracks which are being built in regional towns.
For reference, Newcastle West in west Limerick has a population of about 7,000 people. New 400m athletic tracks are being constructed in Clonmel (pop 17,000) and Bandon (pop 7,000).
There are plans for new tracks in Mallow (pop 13,000) and Carrigaline (pop 16,000). This then raises the question of whether it's viable to have athletic tracks in towns like Midleton (pop 13,000), Youghal (pop 8,000) or Fermoy (pop 7,000)?
New athletic tracks are probably of most benefit to juveniles and a cheaper 200m track might suit nearly all of their requirements. An obvious place to have one would be in a town like Bantry in west Cork (pop 3,000). It might be too small to justify a full size 400m track but a 200m track might be perfect?
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