3 minute read
The National Stadium
Why it is important?
How the home of boxing became a haven of music and culture
By Maria Eduarda Castro
The 2000-seater stadium, known as the “Home of Irish Boxing,” has hosted many of Ireland’s best boxing sportsmen. The stadium is about 17,000 square feet in size and is located in the heart of Dublin. The National Stadium is the ultimate intimate multi-purpose facility for both musicians and fans.
Initially built as the first and only purpose-built boxing stadium in the world. In 1939, government minister Frank Aiken inaugurated the stadium. It is owned by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) and has been used as a site for national and international competitions for over 60 years.
The Stadium also opened their door to bingo nights, that has been happening for over 20 years, religious events, dance competition, football streaming, The Dublin 8 venue that hosted some of the biggest musical acts of all time, with U2, Thin Lizzy, Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin.
In the last few years, the All nations church (rediscovery life) hosted mass every Sunday at 11:00, Life Groups, Bible School and prayer meetings online via Zoom and in person adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Another important event in which the stadium opens its doors is wrestling. It is a physical sport, and its tactics have been adopted by martial arts, for example.
The event organised by Over the Top (OTT), founded in 2014 by Joey Cabray, has become one of the major independent wrestling promotions in the world.
This year on the 29th of October (Saturday), the eighth anniversary, fans are really engaged with this event. Some great boxing and professional wrestling events, with athletes such as Katie Taylor, Barry McGuigan, and Jordan Devlin all participating in huge boxing and wrestling bouts, respectively.
Other remarkable events in October 2022 were the musical events, with mixed genres, cultures and different nationalities.
According to the Community tools, understanding a variety of cultures teaches you that there are many different approaches to living in, and yours might not be the best. Connecting with individuals from other cultures may often let you see things from a new point of view.
This year is open to international events like grouping with the Green Group Events, A Brazilian Event Production Company in Dublin, born in 2018 by Gutto Macedo, originally from Natal, Brazil. He said,
The National Stadium had hosted and opened the house for artists like Pablo Vittar, Whinderson Nunes, Turma do Pagode and Menos é Mais.
On Thursday, 28th of October, the Singer Wesley Safadão got all the tickets sold out. The opinion of some fans at the door of the event; genders and ages, helping with accommodation services in the Dublin 8 region and boosting local businesses.
In the 1980s, U2, an internationally recognized band, performed at the stadium to get the attention of a record company. The concert counted approximately 2400 people, according to an article. After the show, U2 signed their first contract with Island Records with Nick Stewart, who was at the show as part of the A&R Department of Island Records.
“...Green groups do wonderful and very unique work.” Complete Fabiana Maia who has been living in Ireland for over 6 years.
According to the concerts archives the top genres of 2022-2023 to perform are Rock and classical rock with 129 sets followed by Folk with 47 sets.
The mixture of nationalities does not stop there. Next Friday, November 4th, the Ministry concert will happen, an American metal band, followed by Fozzy, a heavy metal band also formed in the United States of America.
When many people and cultures have shortterm access to the same environment, The venue and the Dublin 8 community absorb a little experience and energy. People from all over Ireland participate in these effects, all
87 years after the stadium’s construction, it still is an essential place for the locals, especially for boxing fans and for all these new fans that time has brought, the national stadium remains the only stadium built exclusively for boxing.
The music and other events are frequent, but boxing is still the most significant part of the stadium. In December 2022, they will open the entry for women’s and men’s National Elite championships.
The Irish National Elite Championships will be held in January 2023.
The Elites will be contested for the first time since September 2021. The National Stadium in Dublin will host the gem in the crown of Irish boxing commencing on January 12th, six months before the first Paris Olym pics qualification at the European Games in Poland in June 2023.
