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OCTOBER 2026 Newsletter

To The Athletics Community,

It is with immense sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Ciara Mageean. Ciara was not only one of Ireland’s finest athletes, but also a much-loved and inspirational member of our athletics community. Her remarkable achievements on and off the track, along with her courage, warmth and spirit, have left a lasting impact on our sport and on everyone who had the privilege of knowing her. On behalf of Athletics Ireland, we extend our deepest condolences to Ciara’s family, friends, teammates and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. She will be greatly missed, but her legacy will live on for generations to come. May she rest in peace.

We would also like to acknowledge a significant milestone for Athletics Ireland, having surpassed our record-breaking membership from last year, with over 76,000 registered members for 2026. Thank you to all the athletes, coaches, officials and administrators who have worked so hard throughout the year to support our continued growth.

The upcoming 123.ie National Athletics Awards on Wednesday the 25^th of November offer us all an opportunity to pause and reflect on the incredible success of 2026 and there are tickets still available. Get in quick as this event will sell out.

We are also very aware of the challenges facing our sport and we continue to engage with Government officials re continued investment in facilities across the country. We are acutely aware of the demand for indoor training space, track access and greenfield sites for training and cross country. We strongly encourage all clubs to consider an application to the now open Community Sports Facility Fund and our Club Development Manager, Dermot McGranaghan is available to assist you in this area.

A special mention must be given to all participants of our permitted events who have now raised over €9 million in 2026 for worthy causes. Athletics is certainly a sport that gives back to our local communities in so many ways and this is a huge sum of money.

Congratulations to all those who completed the challenge of Dublin Marathon last Sunday, it is fantastic to see the event back on live television and the colour and passion of this race is a great showcase of our sport. Special congratulations to our two newly crowned National Marathon Champions – Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC) and Judith Storm (City of Derry Spartans AC).

As Schools & Third levels return to start the academic year we wish all our Clubs success in retention and recruitment of members for the season ahead. We believe that athletics has so much to offer us all from the physical and mental health benefits on offer to the comradery and challenge at all levels.

We have recently secured approval from Revenue to receive tax relief on all donations made to support our high performance programme. Please reach out to hamishadams@athleticsireland.ie  regarding queries related to this project.

A warm welcome to our new hydration partners; Hygo Spring Water produced by Borrisoleigh Bottling Ltd in Tipperary. Together with Clonmel Healthcare who have been named the Official Healthcare partner of Athletics Ireland, these new partnerships will support health and wellbeing across our sport.

We thank all our athletes, officials, coaches and volunteers for their continued commitment and please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist you. The spirit and comradery throughout Athletics in Ireland is underpinned by our values of respect, integrity, inclusion and excellence and these values will be key to growing our great sport further.

We feel very proud and privileged to lead such a fantastic organisation and look forward to sharing further success with you all this year.

Yours in Athletics

Brid Golden
President

Hamish Adams
CEO