* Building Facilities Step by Step
* Land, Plans and Permission in place for National Indoor Arena
* Funding model sought, and perhaps supplied
* Work underway already on GAA and Modern Pentathlon facilities
The National Sports Campus was once considered a folly but is now being created step by step with increasing pace.  An Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid tribute to those who build the platform on which “our national blood is stirred through sporting passion” when officially opening the new Sports HQ on the site of the campus on Wednesday.
There were more than lofty words though as well, and while no rabbit was produced in terms of greater funding both he and Sports Minister Leo Varadkar spoke of a willingness to assist in projects that might be brought forward for further facility development.
“There are hundreds of acres here which Government has made available and which can be the basis of a great sporting story for future generations,” said Varadkar.
“We are emerging from a difficult time and willing to listen to proposals on how to bring projects here to life,” added Kenny.
“The land and planning permission for a national indoor sports facility here on the campus are ready,” said Sean Benton, Chair of the National Sports Campus Development Authority.  “What we need now is an innovative funding model to get it built.”
Sport for Business points the way today to how just such an innovative model in British Horse Racing has just exceed its target in four weeks by 50% and raised almost €30 million for a project of similar scale and cost.
We are willing today to make contact with those behind the scheme and see if something similar can be developed for a project such as the Indoor Arena on the National Sports Campus and will include it as a subject for discussion at our next Members Round Table on Long Term Sports Funding and the National Lottery taking place on June 13th.
The GAA will commence work on developing state of the art pitches and a pavilion in the coming weeks and the first phase is expected to be operational along the same lines as Stepaside and Alfie Byrne Park within twelve months.
Soccer, Rugby and Hockey all have sites allocated and planned for development and the work on infrastructure continues with a new link road between the Sports HQ and the National Aquatic Centre opened this week.
The National Sports Campus is not like the raising of Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium with an obvious visible progress but its scale over time will be just as important and will be seen as world class in the coming years.
The opening of the Sports HQ brings 19 sports governing bodies under one roof and there are many benefits to be gained both in terms of greater sharing of resource but also a lifting of cooperation and the mutual benefit that can be gained as a result.
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