Michael Murphy. Photo: Tullamore Harriers Facebook.

Murphy to make international debut at European Cup

Tullamore Harriers athlete Michael Murphy will make his senior international debut for Ireland at the European 10,000m Cup in La Spezia Italy.

The Kilbeggan man is one of ten athletes who will compete in the Irish singlet at the Centro Sportivo Alessandro Montagna stadium on Saturday, May 23.

Murphy ran a personal best time at the Valencia 10k in January and will be hoping to replicate his time of 28:54 on that occasion at the annually held event.

The European 10,000m Cup is a 10,000 metres race for European athletes which was first held in 1997.

Clonliffe Harriers athlete Efrem Gidey won a historic gold medal for Ireland at the 2025 European 10,000m Cup, the country’s first in the championship’s history.

Commenting on the team selection, Mark Kenneally, Athletics Ireland High Performance Endurance Lead, said:

“We are pleased to announce the selection of ten athletes to go to European 10,000m Cup. This race represents an opportunity on a number of levels for athletes – we have some focused on using this race to achieve qualifying standards for the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham and others looking to improve their best performances to closer to those qualifying standards in an international representative race.

“Being in position to select ten athletes for this race is further evidence to the rising standard of distance running in Ireland, and testament to the work being done by athletes and their coaches around the country,” he added.

Ireland Team Selection

Fiona Everard, Bandon AC

Emily Haggard-Kearney, North Belfast Harriers

Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill, West Limerick AC

Niamh Allen, Leevale AC

Patricia Jackman, Waterford AC

Faye Dervan, Dublin City Harriers

Callum Morgan, Candour Track Club

Jamie Battle, Mullingar Harriers

Michael Murphy, Tullamore Harriers

Oisín O’Gailín, Finn Valley AC.