Limerick City has been successful in its bid to become a European City of Sport for 2011.

This prestigious award comes as the result of a pitch made by Shannon Development and Limerick City Council to the European Capitals of Sport Association (ACES) based in Milan, Italy.

ACES are the initials, in Italian, of the Association of European Capitals of Sport. It began in 2001 after the naming of the very first European Capital of Sport, Madrid. From that year on, the history of this growing association has flourished day after day,

ACES is a non profit organisation that awards cities for their endeavour in sporting issue. Municipalities that look upon sport as a concept available to all, whatever their age, sex or nationality. It places great value on those cities embarking on sporting projects where physical activity is an instrument for integration and wellbeing.

The cities awarded by ACES do not have to organise sporting events. What is of most value is their municipal sporting strategy, the quality of its services and infrastructures, the activities that are programmed, the procedures that are undertaken and how all these “parts” are put together as a whole in the most professional manner possible.