Under the 2000 sports capital programme, Fingal County Council was requested by the then Minister for Sport and Recreation to prepare an application for an indoor athletic track. In January 2001, the county council opened a public tender process both for this development and the provision of a headquarters for the Athletics Association of Ireland. However, the outcome of the tendering process was that the effective cost of the project had almost doubled to €15.5 million from €9.56 million and the promised level of grants of €6 million was no longer adequate to make the project feasible.