The Irish Indoor Athletics Championships are to be held in Northern Ireland for the first time in 2003.

The event is to be staged at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast over the weekend of 15 and 16 February.

The organisers of the meeting are hoping to attract many of the top Irish athletes from Northern Ireland and the Republic.

It will be the first time athletics has been staged at the Odyssey.

The modern arena is home to the Belfast Giants ice hockey team which plays in the Superleague.

The complex also hosted the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships.

The Athletic Association of Ireland will be using the February meeting to assess those being considered for the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham the following month.