The Lord Mayor, Oisín Quinn and Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and Dublin City Council, will announce today that Dublin will be the venue for an IRONMAN 70.3 set for August 2015 and Dublin will also host a full distance IRONMAN in 2016.

IRONMAN 70.3, based in Dublin, will take place in August 2015 and will provide an early opportunity for athletes to secure points for the 2016 World Championships.

Since its inception in 1978, IRONMAN has developed into the largest user-based endurance race series worldwide. Every year over 200,000 athletes participate in IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races.

Speaking at the announcement the Lord Mayor said:- “Today’s announcement is of tremendous importance to Dublin in terms of the economic value of an IRONMAN for the host city. Thousands of athletes from all over the world take part in these races and I am delighted to have been instrumental in bringing these two events to Dublin and realising one of my primary objectives during my term of office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.”

Minister Varadkar said: “I’m delighted that Dublin will host an Ironman event for the next two years. Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland, and the Ironman brand is world-famous. Hosting this global event will boost Ireland’s reputation as an outdoor adventure destination, and showcase Dublin city and its mountains and scenic bay.  It will also be a boost to our efforts to get more people involved in sport, and grow the profile of triathlon inIreland.”

Thomas Dieckhoff, CEO of IRONMAN Europe, Middle East and Africa commented, “We are extremely proud and excited to be expanding the IRONMAN European Tour to Ireland. Dublin has a heritage of hosting major sporting events and offers a perfect platform for IRONMAN. Full details of the race will be available later in the summer but with the popularity of IRONMAN events meaning athletes are committing to races now to secure a place in the most popular events for 2015, both parties wanted to announce the event early, to allow athletes to plan Dublin into their 2015 season.  We look forward to a long and successful partnership as we grow IRONMAN in Ireland – with the option of adding a full distance IRONMAN triathlon in 2016.”

Our photo is from IRONMAN Lake Tahoe.