Canadian PM helping to bring ice dome back
THE Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been credited for his support in helping to get Dundalk’s Ice Dome up and running again.
Efforts to reopen the facility, which has been closed since 2010, went international after local ice hockey team ‘ The Flying Ducks’ were invited to a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal.
The team got a chance to meet Prime Minister Trudeau at the parade, and used the opportunity to raise their concerns about the lack of ice hockey facilities in Ireland.
.The Sunday Times featured the Dundalk team’s story, which took wings after the Canadian premier then highlighted the lack of facilities during his visit to Ireland a few months later.
The female team from Dundalk were also invited to compete in Montreal, and their calls for more ice hockey facilities in Ireland drew the attention of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister Eoghan Murphy, who is reported to be a fan of the sport
The Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA) said that the profile PM Trudeau gave to the sport during his visit to Ireland had helped to revive the prospect of the ice rink returning to Dundalk.
The facility is now under the ownership of Dundalk Institute of Technology, and the IIHA confirmed that negotiations were ongoing with the institute on the matter.
They also confirmed that efforts to raise private funding for any potential re-opening of the ice rink have also been successful.
‘Aaron Guli, president of the IIHA said the efforts being made to relaunching the ice dome were ‘ the furthest since the rink closed in 2010.’
If negotiations are successful, the association added that it hoped to have the ice dome back open again by as early as this September.
Dundalk have confirmed that negotiations are taking place, and acknowledged that the opening of the rink would be an attraction for students from Canada.