Ireland to host 2009 European Cross Country Championships

Ireland to host the 2009 European Cross Country Championships

Ireland has today been awarded the right to host the 2009 European Cross Country Athletics Championships by the European Athletics Council.  The Irish bid was one of three which had made the shortlist, with the other bids coming from France (Carcassone) and Poland (Bydogoszcz).  

The event will be held at the Santry Demesne course in north Dublin on the 13th of December 2009.  This will be the first time that Ireland has held the European Cross Country Championships, despite hosting the World Cross country championships on two occasions, in 1979 in Limerick and in 2002 in Dublin. 

The right to host the championships is the culmination of several years of hard work by Athletics Ireland putting a winning bid together.  This team was headed up by the Chair of the Athletics Ireland High Performance Committee, Liam Hennessy and he was delighted with the outcome. 

“I am thrilled with the endorsement by European Athletics of our bid to host the Spar European Cross Country 2009.  It's been an odyssey and I would like to thank all the coordinating team for their enthusiastic hard work but would especially thank Tom McCormack and Paddy Marley for their pivotal role in the bid process.  The willing support from the Irish Sports Council, RTE, Fingal County Council and Clonliffe Harriers was critical in the awarding of the event to Ireland.  We now look forward to delivering a world-class event on the 13th December 2009,” Hennessy said at the announcement.

Brendan Hackett, CEO of Athletics Ireland, believes it will have huge benefits for the country.  “To be awarded the Championships is a tremendous honour for Athletics Ireland.  This will not only benefit athletics throughout the country but will also boost Dublin and the country as a whole.  This is now a great incentive for us to get teams together who will be contesting medals on home soil, especially with the likes of Fionnuala Britton and Mary Cullen already performing well on the international stage,” Hackett said.

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For further information:

Declan Lee – O’Herlihy Communciations – 01 660 2744 / 087 695 7451

Liam Hennessy – Athletics Ireland – 087 967 4768