Re: Re: Dundalk Ice dome – Ireland’s first Olympic sized ice rink
An new era in sporting entertainment begins in Dundalk this weekend with the opening of the first Ice Dome in the Irish Republic.
An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will officially open the 220,000 sq foot state-of-the-art venue during his visit to Dundalk on Friday.
And members of the public will be able to get their skates on when the Ice Dome opens to the public on Sunday morning at 10am.
Local Minister Dermot Ahern and the Canadian Ambassador will mark the occasion by placing two coins, Euro and Canadian dollars in the ice, while ‘Satitute’ presenter and singing sensation Brian Ormond will also be in attendence.
There’s a full programme of events planned over the coming weeks so that everyone can celebrate Christmas on Ice.
The rink will be open every day over the festive season, with the exception of Christmas Day, with public skating sessions, bumper cars on ice and disco nites.
And young visitors will also be able to pay a visit to Santa in his Grotto.
The Ice Dome is also home to Dundalk Ice Hockey club which has been set up to facilitate everyone who wants to learn to play this exciting sport.
And in a major coup for the developers, Dundalk has been chosen to host the Ice Hockey World Championships Division 3 in April 2007.
A spokesperson for the developers said that already great interest has been expressed by schools and others throughout the north east.
“The Ice Dome will be a huge boost for Dundalk and has the potential to stage events such as ‘Disney on Ice’ and ice-skating exhibitions as well as ice hockey competitions,” he commented.
Full details of opening times and events are available on http://www.dundalkicedome.com
It’s a great addition to Dundalk. However “Disney on Ice?” I think not. There’d be absolutely no room for it. I’ve been to 3 in the US with the kids and the stage and backstage area for the show takes up almost a quarter of a 20,000 seater arena. Plus at 700 seats in dundalk there’d be almost as many on the cast and crew as watching it. They honestly should have put in at least 2000 seats with a vision to the future. As is, it’ll never amount to anything but a low-level pay-as-you-go skating rink.
