The National Sports Campus ( ga, An Campas Náisiúnta Spórt) is a large site in the western suburbs of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, which contains a number of sporting facilities. It is operated by the National Sports Campus Development Authority and is home to a number of sports venues, including the National Indoor Arena, National Aquatic Centre, and National Horse Sport Arena. Several national sports governing bodies, including the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

, have sports facilities on the campus. Other Irish sports governing bodies, such as the Football Association of Ireland and

Sport Ireland Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephi ...

, have their headquarters on the site.

Operations

The National Sports Campus Development Authority (NSCDA) was formally established on 1 January 2007 under the National Sports Campus Development Authority Act 2006. It was formed as a public body in Ireland, responsible for the creation, development, operation and promotion of a National Sports Campus. The authority also has responsibility for the operation of the National Aquatic Centre on the Blanchardstown site. Since May 2010. It discharges these responsibilities through its wholly owned subsidiary NSCDA (Operations) Ltd.

Site

The National Sports Campus is in the

Abbotstown Abbotstown is a townland in the civil parish of Castleknock in Fingal, Ireland.Placenames Database of Ireland

area of

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchardstown is the largest u ...

, in the western suburbs of

. The 477 acre site is in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Sheephill near Abbotstown House. This area was formerly "mainly open farmland" and previously accommodated the Marine Institute, State Laboratory and a farm operated by the Department of Agriculture.

Development

Sheephill Sport Irelnad National Indoor Arena 2021

Sheephill Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena 2021 b

The National Sports Campus Development Authority allocated a number of plots on the site to accommodate the headquarters of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), the Irish Institute of Sport (IIS) and the Irish Sport HQ. The latter is home to the administrative headquarters of 19 national governing bodies of sport in Ireland. The FAI moved from its former headquarters on Merrion Square in Dublin city centre, to its new offices on the National Sports Campus, in late 2007. In October 2013, the NSCDA completed the development of high performance training facilities for athletes in a variety of sporting disciplines including modern pentathlon, fencing, pistol-shooting, and gymnastics. An equestrian centre, the National Horse Sport Arena, was also developed. In 2016, the

opened a National Games Development Centre within the confines of the National Sports Campus site. This facility includes several grass and artificial pitches, a pavilion with dressing rooms, a gym, and conference and dining facilities. The NSCDA has also allocated sites for potential future development in partnership with the governing organisations responsible for cycling, rugby and hockey. For example, in March 2015, Fingal County Council gave planning permission for an indoor

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

to be constructed as part of the National Sports Campus. While the track was originally projected to be completed before the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, construction was delayed. In September 2020, it was reported that representatives of

Cycling Ireland Cycling Ireland ( ga, Rothaíocht Éireann) or CI is the operating name of the national governing body of the sport of cycling in the island of Ireland. Formally the body is a charitable company limited by guarantee, the Irish Cycling Federat ...

were "hopeful" that the velodrome would be ready "in time for preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics". Sport Ireland announced development plans in November 2022, with a velodrome and cricket venues included.

References

{{authority control Sports venues in County Dublin Indoor arenas in Ireland

Operations

Site

Development

See also

References