MILLSTREET International in Co Cork has been allocated the inaugural FEI World Eventing Championships for Under 25 riders in 2026, the FEI have confirmed to The Irish Field.

This will be the very first edition of the U25 World Championships, a new concept introduced by the FEI to provide a stepping stone for riders transitioning from youth to senior international competition. “It’s fantastic for Ireland and eventing in Ireland to be allocated a world championship,” Millstreet’s Thomas Duggan told The Irish Field.

The championship will take place from July 22nd to 26th, 2026. Work is already underway to the exceptional cross-country course at the Co Cork venue, where the event will be run at CCI4*-S level.

“We are adding some new complexes, which is something we would be doing anyway every winter,” Duggan said. “The course designer (Mike Etherington-Smith) was here yesterday for two days and the builders are here for six weeks, and will be here again in the spring for another six weeks.”

The estimated cost to host the championship, as outlined in the bid, is approximately €600,000. Millstreet has previously hosted six underage European championships across the disciplines of jumping, dressage and eventing, the first in 1980 and the last in 2017, as well as a leg of the FEI Nations Cup for eventing in 2018, 2022 and 2023.

With plenty of details still to be confirmed by the FEI to the organisation committee, Duggan confirmed Millstreet’s international event would take place in May and the international show jumping in August as usual.