John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My home town of Dundalk has an incredibly proud sporting tradition. It is a football town and a GAA town. We have an incredible history of sport, no more so than in the world of athletics, where we recently had the Olympian, Kate O'Connor, and Irish athlete, Israel Olatunde. We have a very strong athletics and running history in my town. There are clubs with a long history, such as Dundalk St. Gerard's Athletics Club, North East Runners Dundalk, Blackrock Athletic Club and Dún Dealgan Athletic Club.

I live in Seatown and every night of the week, I see members of these clubs out running the roads in darkness. That is happening because there has been a substantial delay in delivering a world-class running track in Dundalk since 2019-2020. Much of the blame lies with the local authority due to planning issues. It is certainly not with the Government, which has been willing and able to provide substantial funding at every stage. It is clear that if we are going to support the athletes of the future and have the next Kates and Israels in my town of Dundalk, we need a world-class running track. This will mean athletes do not have to go to Drogheda and Newry, and do not have to run the roads in darkness in the middle of the winter. We need that world-class facility.

I am asking for as much pressure as possible from the Department and the Government to make sure that Louth County Council, in particular, draws down the money and resolves the planning issues in a timely fashion. After the last four to six years, we need this saga over a running track to come to a successful conclusion. We want a world-class facility in the heart of Dundalk, supporting our athletes, so the town of Dundalk can continue to champion a very proud sporting tradition.