Time waits for no man and this is true of the commitment carried out by a small number of individuals at the National Ice Sports Arena in Santry, Dublin. The arena has been the scene of a serious amount of activity in the construction of the largest ice rink ever to be built in the capital city, Dublin. In the last number of days speculation about its opening day have been spreading all of the social media outlets with all of the Irish ice hockey community anxiously waiting for word, any word. Suddenly, it started to happen and the word began to spread by phone, text, e-mail, Facebook, carrier pigeon; any means of communication that it was a reality and there were even pictures to prove it.
The IIHA have been informed that with effect from 1 PM on Thursday 26th of April that bookings are being taken at the facility and already several teams have arranged ice times for training. In addition, in anticipation of the imminent opening of the ice rink the IIHA, in full consultation with the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI), have made arrangements for the IIHA’s Learn To Play programme sessions to take place on Saturday mornings and also on a weekday to be announced later while the ISAI programmes will take place on similar days also. This is a great opportunity for the IIHA to develop ice hockey skills in those who have not had an opportunity to take up the sport and also those who have been involved in the IIHA’s InLine Hockey programme over the last year.
If you are interested in taking part in any of the IIHA’s Learn To Play programmes throughout the country, please contact the IIHA via office@iiha.org.
Since the closure of Dundalk Ice Dome the IIHA have been conducting pickup hockey in Northern Ireland with the support of Ice Hockey UK and the management and staff at both Dundonald and Odyssey Arena ice rinks. With the arrival of the new ice rink in Dublin the IIHA will be in a strong position to be able to promote ice hockey to a large audience and also provide opportunities for those who have never been exposed to the sport before.
The IIHA would like to take this opportunity to wish the management and staff at the National Ice Sports Arena in Santry the very best of luck with their venture and they can be assured of the support of the IHA in the promotion of ice hockey in Ireland.