Ó Catháin re-elected President of Athletics Ireland

The President of Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, has been re-elected as the new President of Athletics Ireland.

Prof. Ó Catháin is a member of the National Technical Official (NTO) panel for Athletics Ireland. Under his stewardship at AIT, a multi-million sports campus has been developed at the institute.

An outdoor 400m track was built in recent years and a new state-of-the art 200m indoor track and sports arena was opened in 2013. In February this year the inaugural AIT International Arena Grand Prix was held at the venue which produced a night of magical sporting memories.

During his speech Prof. Ó Catháin spoke of the importance of the volunteer:  “To say that we appreciate the work and commitment of the thousands of administrators, officials and coaches who give freely of their time is a significant understatement.” He also thanked the CEO John Foley, the entire staff team and committee members of Athletics Ireland for all of their work.

The President also spoke of the need to be ambitious as a sport: “Our vision set out in the strategic plan is an inclusive one and envisages a future landscape for our sport that is not small or limited. That landscape should be as vast and expansive as the ambitions of our athletes. It should be illuminated with the successes of our sporting heroes from Rob Heffernan to Joe Gough, Fionnuala Britton to Kelly Proper.”