Athletics Ireland in partnership with the ESB today announced the details of their Athlete Support Scheme for 2007. The ESB Athlete Support programme will provide financial support to a group of 12 talented young Irish athletes to help fulfil their potential. This will aid each athlete with their training, travel, coaching, sports science and medical support. The new addition to this year’s programme is Wicklow’s Fionnuala Britton. The Sli Chulainn runner has been in great form over the past year, winning a silver medal at the European U-23 Cross Country Championships before going on to finish 11th at the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya. Britton replaces David Gillick on the ESB Athlete Support Scheme this year. Gillick has benefited hugely from the scheme in the last year. It has helped his move to a new training environment in Loughborough in the UK, which has already shown its benefits as he took gold at the European Indoor Championships in March. The group of 12, which is made up of four emerging seniors, four U-23’s and four juniors, also features Ireland’s top sprinter Paul Hession, who is the Irish record holder at 60 and 100m. Joanne Cuddihy, who was a finalist at the European Championships, is also a member of the scheme along with fellow senior Mary Cullen, who was victorious at the Cork City Sports last weekend. The programme also includes promising Long Jumper Kelly Proper and Waterford’s David McCarthy. Brendan Hackett, Chief Executive of Athletics Ireland, is delighted with the scheme. “This partnership with ESB is providing real visible benefits for our athletes, with David Gillick being a case in point. It is a very innovative idea to support emerging talent as opposed to established names and hopefully we will see more of our athletes benefiting from this over the next year”, Hackett said at the announcement. Padraig McManus, Chief Executive of ESB, is pleased that the company are supporting the programme. “We have invested €200,000 over 3 years in the Athlete Support Scheme and we are hoping that this will lead to more Irish success at international level. We hope that the whole scheme will benefit both the athletes involved and the association itself in the long term”, McManus said. ESB Athlete Support Scheme 2007Senior Paul Hession Athenry AC Joanne Cuddihy UCD AC Mary Cullen North Sligo Fionnuala Britton Sli Chulainn U23 Colin Costello Star of the Sea AC Danny Darcy St. Laurence O’Toole Ann Loughnane Craughwell AC Linda Byrne Dundrum South Dublin Junior Ciaran O’Lionaird Leevale AC David McCarthy West Waterford Kelly Proper Ferrybank AC Amy Foster North Down AC