Gavin Cooney

LAST YEAR REMINDED the Irish public of their appetite for championship racing, and happily the European Indoors are here after a long, hungry winter. 

There are some big Irish names absent from Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this weekend -  including Rhasidat Adeleke, Ciara Mageean and Sophie Becker -  but there will be a swathe of recognisable faces in action, many of whom are happily also in form and seeking to end a six-year run without any Irish medalist. 

Sharlene Mawdsley retained her national 400m indoor title at Abbotstown last month and earlier this year lowered her indoor PB to 51.69, already showing the benefits of a  change of coach: she left home to link up with Tony Lester in the UK after Paris. 

An appearance in the final will be her minimum target: Mawdsley is ranked fifth among those running in the 400m, below only a couple of recognisable faces in Britain’s Amber Anning and Norway’s Henriette Jaeger – both of whom ran in the Olympic final last year – along with Netherlands’ Lieke Klaver and Czech teenager Lurdes Gloria Manuel, who were third and fourth respectively in the European 400m outdoor final last year. (While Adeleke is not competing this week, nor is our old friend, Natalia Kaczmarek.) 

Sarah Healy is probably Ireland’s brightest medal hope this weekend, given she has started 2025 in stunning form. Healy is focusing on the 3000m in Apeldoorn, having twice lowered the national record at that distance already this year. First she knocked it down to 8:35.19 in Boston, and then reduced it further t0 8:30.79 at the Millrose Games in New York. 

Only Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant among the 3000m field has run faster than Healy this year. 

Irish records tumbled everywhere you looked at the Millrose Games. Andrew Coscoran broke Ray Flynn’s record for the mile that had stood since July 1982, finishing in 3:49.26 and seventh place in the Wanamaker Mile. Mark English, meanwhile, set a new national record of 1:45.15 in the 800m, nearly a full second faster than the previous record he set in 2021. 

Coscoran, like Healy, is focusing on the 3000m in Apeldoorn, in which the headline names include Britain’s George Mills and some dude named Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Coscoran’s form gives him a shot at a podium. 

English, meanwhile, won silver at the 2015 edition of these championships and bronze in 2019. He and Ciara Mageean medaled for Ireland in Glasgow six years ago – there hasn’t been an Irish medal won at these championships since. 

Mark English. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

English is ranked third going into this weekend, however, one place ahead of Longford’s Cian McPhillips, the 2021 European U20 champion who has had his recent progress stymied by a combination of injury, illness, and the upheaval necessary in college life. 

Ireland have never won a senior medal at a multi-event discipline, but pentathlete Kate O’Connor has a realistic shot at breaking that streak this weekend. Having finished 14th at the Olympics, O’Connor last month blew apart her old national record, swelling it by 287 points. She has spoken in the build-up to this week’s championship of her belief that she is capable of scoring better again. 

Elsewhere, Sarah Lavin will run in the 60m hurdles, having won a seventh national indoor title at Abbotstown last month. Cathal Doyle, who narrowly missed a spot in the Olympic final last year, runs in the 1500m, while Lauren Cadden and Rachel McCann have qualified for the individual 400m event by virtue of their world ranking. 

New national 60m champion Bori Akinola will compete at his first senior international championship for Ireland, while James Gormley and Jodie McCann will go in the men’s and women’s 3000m respectively. 

Orla Comerford, meanwhile, who won 100m bronze at last year’s Paralympics, will race in the Para 60m mixed classification event. 

Finally, what with this being Relay County: Ireland have been invited to submit teams for the mixed and women’s 4x400m relays. 

Phil Healy is a contender for both teams, along with Mawdsley and Rachel McCann, while Cliodhna Manning, Lauren Cadden, and Arlene Crossan are also eligible for the women’s 4x400m team. 

Conor Kelly, David Bosch, and Marcus Lawler have travelled as contenders for the mixed relay team.

RTÉ, meanwhile, are providing the live broadcasts, with all but Friday’s evening session to be shown on linear channels, with everything available to watch live on the RTÉ Player. 

Team Ireland Schedule – All times Irish 

*subject to progression 

Evening Session – Thursday 6 March

• Cathal Doyle – Men’s 1500m – Round One – 18:55
• Sarah Lavin – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Round One – 19:50 
• Mixed 4x400m Relay – Final – 20:50

Morning Session – Friday 7 March 

• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Round One – 10:05 
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Round One – 10:05 
• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Round One – 10:55 
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Round One – 10:55 
• Rachel McCann – Women’s 400m – Round One – 10:55 
• Sarah Lavin – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Semi-Final – 12:45 *

Evening Session – Friday 7 March

• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final – 18:58*
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final – 18:58*
• Rachel McCann – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final – 18:58*
• Cathal Doyle – Men’s 1500m – Final – 20:15 *
• Sarah Lavin – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Final – 20:43 *

Morning Session – Saturday 8 March

• Sarah Healy – Women’s 3000m – Round One – 09:20 
• Jodie McCann – Women’s 3000m – Round One – 09:20 
• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Round One – 11:00 
• Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 3000m – Round One – 11:45
• James Gormley – Men’s 3000m – Round One – 11:45 
• Orla Comerford – 60m Para Mixed Classification 12:17 

Evening Session – Saturday 8 March 

• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Semi-Final – 18:10 *
• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Semi-Final – 19:13 *
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Semi-Final – 19:13*
• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Final – 20:40 *
• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Final – 20:50 *
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Final – 20:50*
• Rachel McCann – Women’s 400m – Final – 20:50*

Morning Session – Sunday 9 March

• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – 60m Hurdles – 08:00 
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – High Jump – 08:50
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – Shot Put – 11:21 

Evening Session – Sunday 9 March

• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – Long Jump – 14:10 
• Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 3000m – Final – 15:50 *
• James Gormley – Men’s 3000m – Final – 15:50*
• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Final – 16:27 *
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Final – 16:27*
• Sarah Healy – Women’s 3000m – Final – 16:36*
• Jodie McCann – Women’s 3000m – Final – 16:36*
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – 800m – 17:03 
• Women’s 4x400m Relay – Final – 17:50 

 RTÉ Live Coverage Details  

Thursday: RTÉ2 from 18:00-21:35

Friday: RTÉ2 09:00-13:15; RTÉ Player 17:45-21:00 and News channel 18:58-21:00

Saturday: RTÉ2: 08:55-12:40 and 17:30-21:00

Sunday: RTÉ2 08:40-12:05; RTÉ ONE 14:05-17:15; RTÉ2 17:15-18:25