We have nothing in Cork says Leevale Athletic Club chairman Finbarr O'Dwyer

“WE have nothing,” was how Leevale Athletic Club chairman, Finbarr O’Dwyer, described the state of Cork athletics after UCC closed the Sonia O’Sullivan Mardyke running track on Monday over health and safety concerns.

A statement was released by the college which cited “a rapid and significant deterioration” of the track as the reason why they were left with no other choice but to close the gate and prevent thousands of runners from training and using the facility.

The situation is made worse over the ongoing closure of the running track at MTU, with that facility being redeveloped since 2023. 

This means that there is no track available for Cork’s 8,600 registered athletes and 58 clubs.

“Our senior athletes have basically no training facility,” was how O’Dwyer summed this up.

“It is after having a dramatic effect on us, really. 

"There’s nowhere for them to train at the moment.

“They are quoting that the track isn’t fit for purpose, that it is tearing up and stuff. 

"I have a meeting with Morgan Buckley on Thursday morning, and Seamus Adams and we’re going to see if we can salvage some bit of it for the moment that our senior athletes can train on.

“We have nothing,” he added.

“I just sent an email to the Minster for Sport and I sent an email to the Tánaiste and stuff. 

"Leevale Athletic Club are the top athletic club in the country. We won Performance Club of the Year 2024 at the recent Athletic Ireland Awards in November 2023. 

"This weekend, we’re going up to Mullingar and the Athletics Ireland Juvenile Awards are on and we’re after winning the cup for the best juvenile club in the country. 

"We’ve also won a second award, which is the Best Juvenile Track and Field Development Club.

“So we’ve won all of these and we’ve basically no track to train on. 

"What I’m after saying to them [the ministers] is: that is the commitment to athletics in Cork. 

"That we can achieve even with CIT closed and we’re feeding off scraps with the Mardyke because every club in Cork is trying to get in to use the Mardyke. 

"We still achieved that.” 

Despite his club winning awards and cleaning up on the national stage, O’Dwyer knows that they are always fighting an uphill battle. 

The chairman of Leevale puts down the crisis in Cork athletics down as a facilities issue, and this is made worse with each passing year.

“You have to remember that CIT closed for the entire year of 2023,” he referenced the college now known as MTU.

“We still won these awards. Everything is based in Dublin. 

"We also have no indoor facility. There is no indoor facility in Cork. 

"So Cork County Athletics has no indoor championships, ever because there is no indoor track in Cork. 

"This is not good enough.

"The nearest indoor track is in Nenagh and that was built in 1970 something. 

"The only indoor tracks in Ireland are Athlone and Abbotstown.”