New icerink!!

Diageio_Man

dundrum on ice is opening next week, theres not a hope of playing hockey on it though.

Wisco

Do they allow hockey in Dundrum? Hope Castleknock stays on schedule

Wisco

Never mind, just saw Diageio's post. Too bad.

buki9

hey Lads.
I would like to say hello to everybody!!
I'm new over here , and dont be mad on me if i ask u something what u really good to know.

I would like to ask u about the ice rinks. Is there any chance to build them more ?? maybe it is a sense to visite goverments ?? or something like that ?? I already write do the IIHA with that same question .

I'm really pist off that the really greate sport like is Ice Hockey is not promoted in your country .

I'm so sorry my name is Bart. and i'm from poland. Just wanna get any informations , from u , from other people , what can we do to start training ice hockey on whole Ireland .
:pac::pac::pac:
I live in Naas right now and it is really big problem form me to go to the Dundalk for 1:20 min practice on ice . This is sick .

In the future i would like to organise tournament with couple amateur teams from poland .
If u agree that we need to some changes , please help me with this

cena

buki9 wrote: »

hey Lads.
I would like to say hello to everybody!!
I'm new over here , and dont be mad on me if i ask u something what u really good to know.

I would like to ask u about the ice rinks. Is there any chance to build them more ?? maybe it is a sense to visite goverments ?? or something like that ?? I already write do the IIHA with that same question .

I'm really pist off that the really greate sport like is Ice Hockey is not promoted in your country .

I'm so sorry my name is Bart. and i'm from poland. Just wanna get any informations , from u , from other people , what can we do to start training ice hockey on whole Ireland .
:pac::pac::pac:
I live in Naas right now and it is really big problem form me to go to the Dundalk for 1:20 min practice on ice . This is sick .

In the future i would like to organise tournament with couple amateur teams from poland .
If u agree that we need to some changes , please help me with this

Dundalk is closed dude. There a rink in Castleknock but well reopening up again soon.

buki9

Is there any chance to play ice hockey ??
Normal ice with the lines and boards ?

is there any website to this Castleknock ??

MrJoeSoap

buki9 wrote: »

Is there any chance to play ice hockey ??

Yes.

buki9 wrote: »

Normal ice with the lines and boards ?

Nope.

buki9 wrote: »

is there any website to this Castleknock ??

The website is pretty terrible. The Facebook page is a bit better.

buki9

yes the Facebook page is much better .
Weird no lines for sure no goals . Then how to play
How to make some team ?

MrJoeSoap

buki9 wrote: »

yes the Facebook page is much better .
Weird no lines for sure no goals . Then how to play
How to make some team ?

They do have goals, just not in the photographs. There are some teams playing already, for example the Celtic Clovers.



It's not NHL standard, but it is better than nothing.

buki9

can u send me private message about teams in ireland and other clubs ... i'm fresh here

headlikea

buki9 wrote: »

can u send me private message about teams in ireland and other clubs ... i'm fresh here

Hi buki9, I PM'd you about clubs.

buki9

headlikea wrote: »

Hi buki9, I PM'd you about clubs.

Hi and thanks a million .

headlikea

The site on that last link I sent you has been down, but it's back up again, it's been having a few problems for the past fortnight, but it's good for hockey and will give you information on hockey in Poland too if you go on the main page.

headlikea

Doesn't look like "Winter Wonderland" is coming back to Kilmainham this year : http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0405/1224314387603.html

PMC83

http://www.iiha.org/news/705/latest-update-on-santry-ice-rink

Doesn't look like there will be ice in santry again anyway, which is a shame. If they are looking for a new place I'd imagine we'd be looking at months of set up again if/when they find a suitable spot. So I reckon any NHL iced rinks for the south are a far way away

cena

PMC83 wrote: »

http://www.iiha.org/news/705/latest-update-on-santry-ice-rink

Doesn't look like there will be ice in santry again anyway, which is a shame. If they are looking for a new place I'd imagine we'd be looking at months of set up again if/when they find a suitable spot. So I reckon any NHL iced rinks for the south are a far way away

That was a waste of money setting it up

PMC83

cena wrote: »

That was a waste of money setting it up

How so?

headlikea

PMC83 wrote: »

How so?

How Not? PMC how could you seriously not consider this absolute shambles a waste of money. I'm interested to hear your opinion. You don't think it's a waste of money, time, hard work, especially for the people and their families who gave up their own time to work very hard at converting a cold storage warehouse into an ice rink?
Not a waste of money? What about people who joined clubs, joined the IIHA, bought skates, bought gear under the false impression they would have an NHL size rink to use?
Do you think it's acceptable to simply just accept the fact that "they are looking for a new location" without even questioning it?
It's absurd.

kevin-46

headlikea wrote: »

How Not? PMC how could you seriously not consider this absolute shambles a waste of money. I'm interested to hear your opinion. You don't think it's a waste of money, time, hard work, especially for the people and their families who gave up their own time to work very hard at converting a cold storage warehouse into an ice rink?
Not a waste of money? What about people who joined clubs, joined the IIHA, bought skates, bought gear under the false impression they would have an NHL size rink to use?
Do you think it's acceptable to simply just accept the fact that "they are looking for a new location" without even questioning it?
It's absurd.

ye its fu. ckin stupid i was up there for a month when it opened then close wat was the point in have the rink there in the first place

PMC83

Not looking to get into a argument on it. I can see why you would be angry alright, I've a set of skates I bought myself which are no longer getting much use.

I suppose at the time of opening it didn't seem a like waste, for those setting up or helping set up, as they were assuming they could push it forward and grow it. At the time I was hearing a lot of excitement from most people.

But I guess that's just the danger of getting involved in a venture like Santry.
The current economic climate is ****, theres no money out there, I'd feel bad for any parent who bought gear for their kids, but honestly anyone who put any money into the place must have known that there would be a high chance the place would fail.

Hard for me to say if it was a waste of money, as I don't know how much planning went into it, did the people in charge do everything they could do to keep it open, did they plan for the future etc etc.

I've a lot of respect for anyone who goes out and trys to do something, its pretty easy to lable it a waste of time/money if it doesn't go right.

headlikea

You're right Kevin, you probably spent money on gear yourself, and paying into the ice rink and joining the IIHA to use the ice rink.
You have every right to be anoyed and don't let anyone tell you any different. The good news is that Castleknock on ice should be re-opeing this weekend so you can practise there, but that's not the point. People are pissed off because they were misled into believing they would have a fully operational NHL size rink in the Republic of Ireland without having to travel to the North every weekend.

PMC83

headlikea wrote: »

People are pissed off because they were misled into believing they would have a fully operational NHL size rink in the Republic of Ireland without having to travel to the North every weekend.

Anyone who didn't take that news with a pinch of salt is pretty naive in my book. Have a look around and know what you are buying into/getting involved in.

This is Ireland after all, not exactly hockey central.

headlikea

PMC- I believe that everyone would have started off with the best intentions for Santry, I don't doubt that. No-one sets up deliberately to fail. There is a saying that goes along the lines of "The only failure in life is in not even trying" and I'm in full support of anyone who tries to make a go of things in these trying times but something must have gone very seriously wrong here. There is a lot of interest in ice hockey and ice skating which is evident from Castleknock and Dundrum on ice. However, regarding Santry, the same people are making mistakes over and over again, that's 3 times now- The Ice Dome, Dundalk, Charlestown, and now Santry.

PMC83

headlikea wrote: »

PMC- I believe that everyone would have started off with the best intentions for Santry, I don't doubt that. No-one sets up deliberately to fail. There is a saying that goes along the lines of "The only failure in life is in not even trying" and I'm in full support of anyone who tries to make a go of things in these trying times but something must have gone very seriously wrong here. There is a lot of interest in ice hockey and ice skating which is evident from Castleknock and Dundrum on ice. However, regarding Santry, the same people are making mistakes over and over again, that's 3 times now- The Ice Dome, Dundalk, Charlestown, and now Santry.

Money, money, money I guess. Places must cost a fortune to run. I was there about 4 times, 2 of which in the last month it was open. Both times there were no more then 8 of us on the ice, all paying just 10 quid a head. Which probably isn't enough to justify having the ice cold for an hour. One time there was only 6 of us!

In my opinion there is defo an interest there (castle knock and so on), but they need to grow it a bit more before they can sustain an nhl ice rink.

Scotland have a few, and their cities are all pretty small in relation to Dublin! What are we doing wrong?!

headlikea

"Money, money, money I guess. Places must cost a fortune to run. I was there about 4 times, 2 of which in the last month it was open. Both times there were no more then 8 of us on the ice, all paying just 10 quid a head. Which probably isn't enough to justify having the ice cold for an hour. One time there was only 6 of us! "

Maybe the low figures were due to the fact that it wasn't open to the public, also numbers of ice hockey players have dropped to 297 according to the IIHF figures http://www.iihf.com/en/iihf-home/countries/ireland.html compared to the 428 three years ago. Ice hockey in Ireland was doing very well from the late 1990's until about 2010. And there were no full size rinks then either so you when you ask "What are we doing wrong?" I feel the answer lies not in the size of rinks but with the current Board of the IIHA who have done little to promote, foster or advance the sport in recent years.

I think it could cost in the region of 5 to 7 million euro to set up an NHL size rink but I'm open to correction on that.

syklops

honestly anyone who put any money into the place must have known that there would be a high chance the place would fail.

Its attitudes like this which show why we dont have much nice things in Ireland. Its better to spend the money on the local GAA club, which wont be going out of fashion anyime soon, then try to build something new. Not attacking you or anything, its just a shame that thats the attitude held by so many.

PMC83

syklops wrote: »

Its attitudes like this which show why we dont have much nice things in Ireland. Its better to spend the money on the local GAA club, which wont be going out of fashion anyime soon, then try to build something new. Not attacking you or anything, its just a shame that thats the attitude held by so many.

Well, to be fair the track record isn't great for rinks here, which is why I'd have been dubious about Santry. BELIEVE ME I wanted it to succeed!!

headlikea

Also, more importantly, there was no money back in the eighties and nineties either when ice hockey started to gain momentum here, but with determination, ambition, will, support, good leadership and a lot of hard and voluntary work things started to take off from there.
I can see this same dedication and determination in the people who set up the Celtic Clovers and Dublin Ducks in Castleknock, so it doesn't matter that Castleknock isn't NHL size, neither were the rinks in the eighties or nineties but the sport was thriving then.

ExIIHA

I dont want to trot out the history to people who might not be interested but......
to make it as short as possible, originally some guys went into a meeting representing the IIHA with a view to setting up a rink in Dundalk and came out with a leases in their own names as tenants of what became the Dome in the centre in Dundalk. The leadership of the IIHA at the time had secured the IIHA Div. 111 World Championships for 2007 but again it was engineered so that the Dome took the gate receipts while the IIHA hardly profited at all. It was as if the sport was there to service the rink and not vice versa. When leagues were set up, again the finances went to the Dome. These people went on to engineer the take-over of the IIHA and are still in control. I could go on and shock you with revelations that make politics in Ireland seem tame and sweet. If you want to know more check out the Irish section of International Hockey Forum on the web.

headlikea

You put up a link to the International Hockey Forums on page 12 of this thread but it has been disabled, why is this. I PM'd it to poster Buki9. I don't know why it was disabled on this forum but it would be of interest to everyone involved in ice hockey, not just the Ireland section, but links to live streams, many helpful tips, the history of ice hockey etc, it is virtually a library about ice hockey.

ExIIHA

headlikea wrote: »

You put up a link to the International Hockey Forums on page 12 of this thread but it has been disabled, why is this. I PM'd it to poster Buki9. I don't know why it was disabled on this forum but it would be of interest to everyone involved in ice hockey, not just the Ireland section, but links to live streams, many helpful tips, the history of ice hockey etc, it is virtually a library about ice hockey.

Yes that is strange and sme time back I know I made a post on here too that just disappeared. A thread on the International Hockey Forum also disappeared a while ago ???? I'ts like that old Monty Python sketch
"No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition !!!! "

kevin-46

if they go to shopping centers and advertised about ice ring and joinin it.. it might start wat was the point off build santry for 1 months off ice hockey play then closing it should off left it open its only around the corner from me which was handy

headlikea

Kevin, from the start I thought it was strange that the rink wasn't open to the public. The combined number of people belonging to the associations of hockey, figure skating and curling would not have been enough alone to sustain this rink.

How can people (the public) join clubs and associations if they do not have access to the rink to try it out and see if they enjoy it first and how do the public find out about the rink in the first place unless it is advertised.

Santry opened for 6 weeks from the end of April to the beginning of June 2012.
Then it closed for building work and was supposed to re-open to the public in Sept. A lot of it is to do with insurance which is very expensive.

People registered with the IIHA for the 2011/2012 season because of this rink which has been in the planning since September 2011.

Myself and others found out the Santry building was being advertised for immediate letting on Daft.ie nearly two months ago. Now, the IIHA and the ISAI (ice skating association Ireland) must have known about this back then too, otherwise why would the ISAI have set up skating classes in Dundrum on Ice again this year if the Santry rink was going to re-open.

Yet the IIHA only put up this information on its website about the rink "looking for another location" two days ago ???

ExIIHA

headlikea wrote: »

Kevin, from the start I thought it was strange that the rink wasn't open to the public. The combined number of people belonging to the associations of hockey, figure skating and curling would not have been enough alone to sustain this rink.

How can people (the public) join clubs and associations if they do not have access to the rink to try it out and see if they enjoy it first and how do the public find out about the rink in the first place unless it is advertised.

Santry opened for 6 weeks from the end of April to the beginning of June 2012.
Then it closed for building work and was supposed to re-open to the public in Sept. A lot of it is to do with insurance which is very expensive.

People registered with the IIHA for the 2011/2012 season because of this rink which has been in the planning since September 2011.

Myself and others found out the Santry building was being advertised for immediate letting on Daft.ie nearly two months ago. Now, the IIHA and the ISAI (ice skating association Ireland) must have known about this back then too, otherwise why would the ISAI have set up skating classes in Dundrum on Ice again this year if the Santry rink was going to re-open.

Yet the IIHA only put up this information on its website about the rink "looking for another location" two days ago ???

Insurance to allow members of the general public access the rink is much much more expensive than a policy which covers supposed experienced skaters who are members of a small club or a couple of hundred strong Association. I am sure that having secured the lower rate, in time ways would have been found to blur the bounderies between the two - the public and the members of the Association.
This had the effect of allowing the Association to increase, however artificially, its membership, while at the same time providing the rink with a limited but loyal clientelle who would tend not to turn on the only venue providing ice with troublesome claims. I believe this was at least part of the reason for the hostility to Castleknock which was diminishing the pool of possible members/customers. Remember the rink operator was and still is the person in charge of publicity for the IIHA.

cena

Why build an ice rink that big knowing that it wasn't going to stay open fpr long. It really was a waste of peoples free time helping with this project

Sk8rchic

headlikea wrote: »

Santry opened for 6 weeks from the end of April to the beginning of June 2012.Now, the IIHA and the ISAI (ice skating association Ireland) must have known about this back then too, otherwise why would the ISAI have set up skating classes in Dundrum on Ice again this year if the Santry rink was going to re-open.

The ISAI are back in Dundrum because they were asked back by the management, because of the good working relationship they have. Regardless of whether Santry re- opened or not, the skating classes would have gone ahead in Dundrum. Plans were in place to provide both Santry and Dundrum with classes, and the Senior coaches came from Northern Ireland and London to coach (They are Irish). The ISAI would hardly bring them to Dublin if the knew it wasn't going to re-open. I know they can be mean.... but not THAT mean!!! :P

headlikea

You have misquoted me a little in the above quote by sticking two unrelated sentences together. If you read post #234 carefully it says "myself and others found out the Santry building was being advertised for immediate letting on Daft.ie nearly 2 months ago" Two months ago being August, given that I wrote the above piece in October. When i stated that "The IIHA and ISAI must have known about this back then", I was talking about in August and not June as your editing seems to imply. Of course the ISAI didn't know about it in June,otherwise why would they employ Edward Alton to teach classes in Santry.

Just as a matter of interest, why have the ISAI never once mentioned Castleknock on Ice on their website even though the rink has been operating for over a year?

Sk8rchic

It wasn't the intention to 'misquote' you. I was simply highlighting the ISAI's involvement, for me to comment on nothing more, so apologies.

The ISAI only knew about Santry not re-opening on the 21st of September. I know this because 2 days later, They were in there clearing all their things (files, podiums, skates, costumes etc.) out of storage.

As for Castleknock, I don't know why it hasn't been mentioned on their websibe, but it is mentioned frequently on their facebook page, esp. if members ask about it etc. Ice is ice at the end of the day!! All members are encouraged to skate and practise at Castleknock even though the ISAI can't get ice time at the rink at present.

headlikea

Ok fair enough, I can't find the Ice skating Association Ireland facebook page anywhere, I wasn't aware they had one. The "comments" section are disabled on their website and there is no link to their facebook page, can you provide a link to it or PM me, thanks

headlikea

New Christmas rink opening today, i-skate at the RDS is running until Jan 13th.

ExIIHA

I am hearing stories about the owner of the Santry Rink opening up a Charlestown look-alike rink in Belfast along with an ex-partner Tony Kinsella.

Wisco

Yeah, i saw a photo of the pavilion going up on FB, didn't realise it was going to be that big. They have their fair share of rinks up there, we need that down here!!! (not that I have a problem with getting more people aware of hockey, I'm just jealous)

Zamboni

I-Skate in the RDS

Ice or plastic?

Scratch that - just spotted real ice on the website

ExIIHA

Wisco wrote: »

Yeah, i saw a photo of the pavilion going up on FB, didn't realise it was going to be that big. They have their fair share of rinks up there, we need that down here!!! (not that I have a problem with getting more people aware of hockey, I'm just jealous)

Weird ---- another post of mine in answer to this has gone missing ????

It basically said that the sport up North is far more high profile than down here so we are not really missionaries making them any more aware - after all they have the Giants, some highly qualified coaches, and players from there have been the backbone of Team Ireland for many years.

I also expressed surprise at the PRO of the IIHA setting up a rink there when his Association could really do with one in the South and the demand here for another hockey rink has to be great. A lot of hockey enthusiasts volunteered their time and sweat to get Santry going and I thought their first obligation would be to attend to the needs of those volunteers.

I wonder if the shambles at Fay Towers is the reason for the disillusionment and decision to move the operation Northwards?

headlikea

ExIIHA wrote: »

I am hearing stories about the owner of the Santry Rink opening up a Charlestown look-alike rink in Belfast along with an ex-partner Tony Kinsella.

Is this to be a Christmas rink or a permanent rink? If permanent it doesn't make sense at all seeing as there's two rinks already there.

headlikea

Zamboni wrote: »

I-Skate in the RDS

Ice or plastic?

Scratch that - just spotted real ice on the website

It's real ice, haven't been yet, I was there 2 years ago I think it's 1000m2, i'll probably go during the week. Synthetic/ plastic ice is sh1te and it ruins your blades.

headlikea

ExIIHA wrote: »

I am hearing stories about the owner of the Santry Rink opening up a Charlestown look-alike rink in Belfast along with an ex-partner Tony Kinsella.

Perhaps not the wisest move at the moment looking at the current political situation, everything seems to be kicking off up there again.

Still, I suppose the rink providers weren't to know this.

jimbest

Hey Guys,

Just incase people dont know but since the lockout finished Setanta Sports released a press release that i have been sent. might be of interest to people cant wait for the new season

Live NHL returns to Setanta this weekend



The lockout has finally ended and hockey fans in Ireland can once again get back to the business of enjoying live NHL on Setanta. The season was originally due to start in October but following over 100 days of protracted negotiations agreement was finally reached last week. This means that the 2012/2013 season will be shortened to 48 games but it does get underway this weekend. Brian Quinn, Marketing Director of Setanta Sports, commented ‘We are delighted that the dispute has been resolved. Hockey fans are amongst the most passionate and vocal of our customer base and we know that they just want to get back to watching the games and supporting their team. This year we intend to start with 15 games each week on Setanta Sports 1.’



Setanta’s live coverage starts this Saturday with Pittsburgh v Philadelphia on Setanta Sports 1 at 8pm. Setanta Sports 1 will also be showing NHL TONIGHT, the flagship NHL show which provides the best round-ups and analysis. The first NHL TONIGHT two hour preview show airs on Setanta Sports 1 on Wednesday at 7pm.







Setanta Sports are currently running a special offer for Hockey fans.

Sign up on Satellite for just €8.49 for two months (ROI) per month and just £5.99 per month for 3 months (NI). Visit www.setanta.com to subscribe

On UPC (ROI) Setanta Sports 1 is a premium channel. Visit www.upc.ie to subscribe.

PMC83

Work for upc much?!

jimbest wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Just incase people dont know but since the lockout finished Setanta Sports released a press release that i have been sent. might be of interest to people cant wait for the new season

Live NHL returns to Setanta this weekend



The lockout has finally ended and hockey fans in Ireland can once again get back to the business of enjoying live NHL on Setanta. The season was originally due to start in October but following over 100 days of protracted negotiations agreement was finally reached last week. This means that the 2012/2013 season will be shortened to 48 games but it does get underway this weekend. Brian Quinn, Marketing Director of Setanta Sports, commented ‘We are delighted that the dispute has been resolved. Hockey fans are amongst the most passionate and vocal of our customer base and we know that they just want to get back to watching the games and supporting their team. This year we intend to start with 15 games each week on Setanta Sports 1.’



Setanta’s live coverage starts this Saturday with Pittsburgh v Philadelphia on Setanta Sports 1 at 8pm. Setanta Sports 1 will also be showing NHL TONIGHT, the flagship NHL show which provides the best round-ups and analysis. The first NHL TONIGHT two hour preview show airs on Setanta Sports 1 on Wednesday at 7pm.







Setanta Sports are currently running a special offer for Hockey fans.

Sign up on Satellite for just €8.49 for two months (ROI) per month and just £5.99 per month for 3 months (NI). Visit www.setanta.com to subscribe

On UPC (ROI) Setanta Sports 1 is a premium channel. Visit www.upc.ie to subscribe.

gwils

Hey there, I'm new to Ireland and would love to continue playing hockey. Is this rink in Santry real ice and is it open to the public? I presume there is little to no women's ice hockey here but it's worth a shot!