It was, the then Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue informed us, a "golden opportunity". London's 2012 Olympic glory would rub off on us, as dozens of teams came to Ireland to train. It would provide a perfect opportunity to showcase our sporting facilities. There was even hints that the bigggest prize of them all, the American track and field team, might choose Ireland for its preparations.
Fast-forward four years later, and it becomes apparent how much guff this all was. Only a handful of rather unimportant teams are going to base themselves in Ireland. John O'Donoghue's words seemed to encapsulate the boom they were a part of, being based on assumptions wih no grounding in reality. The reality was that every local authority in Britain had its own slick marketing campaign, and we seemed to believe that we wouldn't need one. British local authorities received millions in promotional money from the government. We didn't even have a plan to attract teams. Our idea seemed to be lifted straight out of Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come".
Except for one thing. We didn't build anything. Had John O'Donoghue not been busy billing the Irish taxpayer for limousines to get him from one part of Heathrow Airport to another, he might have had a chance to look at the dilapidated state of our sporting infrastructure. The problem was that the position of Minister for Sport and Tourism is considered the "fun" ministry, with little in the way of actual work, and lots of free invitations to sporting events.
Fast-forward four years later, and it becomes apparent how much guff this all was. Only a handful of rather unimportant teams are going to base themselves in Ireland. John O'Donoghue's words seemed to encapsulate the boom they were a part of, being based on assumptions wih no grounding in reality. The reality was that every local authority in Britain had its own slick marketing campaign, and we seemed to believe that we wouldn't need one. British local authorities received millions in promotional money from the government. We didn't even have a plan to attract teams. Our idea seemed to be lifted straight out of Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come".
Except for one thing. We didn't build anything. Had John O'Donoghue not been busy billing the Irish taxpayer for limousines to get him from one part of Heathrow Airport to another, he might have had a chance to look at the dilapidated state of our sporting infrastructure. The problem was that the position of Minister for Sport and Tourism is considered the "fun" ministry, with little in the way of actual work, and lots of free invitations to sporting events.
Take, for example, track and field. When officials suggested that we might be on the verge of a deal with the Americans, where would we have put them? When the primary athletics facility in your country is Morton Stadium in Santry, don't expect athletics teams to beat a path to your door (the Americans eventually went to Birmingham).
Where a good piece of infrastructure did exist, such as the National Aquatic Centre, it picked up a couple of teams. Out of the hundreds of swimming teams, our top-notch facility picked up two or three. Clearly, someone wasn't showcasing themselves enough. Even so, one would think that, with Olympic swimming pools being thin on the ground, sheer congestion would have driven more teams to Ireland.
The problem is that a lack of Olympic pools is something that only Ireland suffers from. Granted, things are not as bad as when Michelle De Bruin won three gold medals in Atlanta, when we had none of the things, but we still only have two. Britain has dozens. Every German town has one. While our climate makes such things more expensive (we can't build outdoor pools), one would have thought that in the boom days, when money was everywhere, a few million might have been spared for a couple of municipal pools. Swimming in this country is largely the preserve of those who can afford membership of one of the bigger gyms. For the rest of us, there's merely those three days a year when the weather is warm enough to consider using the sea.
The failure to build for the Olympics was symptomatic of a deeper apathy towards sport by successive governments.
The problem is that a lack of Olympic pools is something that only Ireland suffers from. Granted, things are not as bad as when Michelle De Bruin won three gold medals in Atlanta, when we had none of the things, but we still only have two. Britain has dozens. Every German town has one. While our climate makes such things more expensive (we can't build outdoor pools), one would have thought that in the boom days, when money was everywhere, a few million might have been spared for a couple of municipal pools. Swimming in this country is largely the preserve of those who can afford membership of one of the bigger gyms. For the rest of us, there's merely those three days a year when the weather is warm enough to consider using the sea.
The failure to build for the Olympics was symptomatic of a deeper apathy towards sport by successive governments.
While there was plenty of money for vanity projects (remember the Bertie Bowl?), at a grassroots level, little was done to encourage the growth of a sporting culture. The GAA has, to its credit, largely using its own resources, established a truly national presence, and the IRFU seems to be moving in the same direction, but even here there was evidence of personal vanities, notably the GAA's asinine refusal to allow the use of Croke Park for British sports. When that ban lapsed, the Assoctiation made a killing from internationals, but by then the horse had bolted. The IRFU and FAI were already at work on their own megastadium a few miles away, and now the country has two top-class stadia largely playing host to schools' tournaments, with the odd match of importance thrown in. The GAA has since enquired about hosting the occasional rugby or football game, further perverting the logic of Irish sport.
Of course, we could have used them for something useful. When Scotland came to us with a proposal for a joint bid for Euro 2012, their required two stadia from us. In a typically Irish fashion, we agreed, despite the fact that we only had one facility that was up to the mark, and that belonged to a GAA that was still enforcing rule 42. Of course, when UEFA came to check on the merits of our bid, they noticed that we didn't seem to have any suitable stadia, and so Euro 2012 went to Poland and Ukraine, which, despite patchy infrastructure and rampant corruption, can at least build stadia.
Meanwhile, at a grassroots level, football in Ireland is dying a horrible death. While the FAI was busily pumping millions into the Aviva Stadium, domestic clubs were going bankrupt at a rate of knots. Much of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of the Premiership, as living next door to the biggest league on the planet was always going to distract football fans. However, there has never been a concerted effort to promote football in Ireland. As a result, the League of Ireland is little more than the sporting equivalent of Nama.
The sad fact is that we live in a country where a basketball court and a patch of grass are considered adequate sports facilities in a primary school, and where there is something faintly odd about anyone over the age of thirty doing any sport that isn't golf. Granted, sporting infrastructure doesn't come cheaply, particularly when you want good-quality stuff. But there is a public-health and social side to it too. Waistlines that expanded as fast as the economy during the boom have not contracted during the bust. Without a culture of exercise, we are storing up health problems for the future. In this, as in most healthcare issues, prevention is the best cure.
The real tragedy is that, in certain areas, sport has flourished in Ireland. We punch well above our weight in boxing (no pun intended). Our rugby team is one of the strongest in the world, and we have some top-notch golfers. But these are a consequence of sustained investment by those sporting bodies, and in the case of rugby and golf, there being plenty of money to invest. But in other fields, we simply don't care. And we'll pay for it, both on and off the pitch. Our last gold medal was 1996. Our last track and field gold was 1956. The way things are going, it'll be a long time before we manage to change that.
Of course, we could have used them for something useful. When Scotland came to us with a proposal for a joint bid for Euro 2012, their required two stadia from us. In a typically Irish fashion, we agreed, despite the fact that we only had one facility that was up to the mark, and that belonged to a GAA that was still enforcing rule 42. Of course, when UEFA came to check on the merits of our bid, they noticed that we didn't seem to have any suitable stadia, and so Euro 2012 went to Poland and Ukraine, which, despite patchy infrastructure and rampant corruption, can at least build stadia.
Meanwhile, at a grassroots level, football in Ireland is dying a horrible death. While the FAI was busily pumping millions into the Aviva Stadium, domestic clubs were going bankrupt at a rate of knots. Much of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of the Premiership, as living next door to the biggest league on the planet was always going to distract football fans. However, there has never been a concerted effort to promote football in Ireland. As a result, the League of Ireland is little more than the sporting equivalent of Nama.
The sad fact is that we live in a country where a basketball court and a patch of grass are considered adequate sports facilities in a primary school, and where there is something faintly odd about anyone over the age of thirty doing any sport that isn't golf. Granted, sporting infrastructure doesn't come cheaply, particularly when you want good-quality stuff. But there is a public-health and social side to it too. Waistlines that expanded as fast as the economy during the boom have not contracted during the bust. Without a culture of exercise, we are storing up health problems for the future. In this, as in most healthcare issues, prevention is the best cure.
The real tragedy is that, in certain areas, sport has flourished in Ireland. We punch well above our weight in boxing (no pun intended). Our rugby team is one of the strongest in the world, and we have some top-notch golfers. But these are a consequence of sustained investment by those sporting bodies, and in the case of rugby and golf, there being plenty of money to invest. But in other fields, we simply don't care. And we'll pay for it, both on and off the pitch. Our last gold medal was 1996. Our last track and field gold was 1956. The way things are going, it'll be a long time before we manage to change that.
Greg Bowler lives in Dublin and is a big fan of excercise, so long as it happens to someone else.
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