Motorcycling Ireland Road Race Alliance of Ireland Statement : 01/06/2025 :
Following on from the recent announcements by the Road Race Alliance of Ireland (RRAI) that road racing was to return to the South in 2025 with four events (Walderstown, Faugheen 50, Munster 100 and Athea) and that insurance cover for the events had been acquired, two of the events then announced that they were cancelled – Faugheen 50 and Walderstown.
Around the same time the Legal Advisor, VP / Director of RRAI and the Social Media Manager of RRAI all stepped down from their posts.
Assurances were given that any monies put towards the Season Pass for the 4 events or any donations to the Crowd Funding Campaign would be returned in full.
Those involved then stated that a joint statement would be issued at 3pm on Sunday 1st June 2025.
That statement is as follows :
Statement 01/06/2025
Following extensive discussions at the Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre on Friday 23ª May 2025, both Motorcycling Ireland and the Road Race Alliance of Ireland have come to a mutual and satisfactory agreement about the future of Road Racing based upon their commitment to working together in the interest of all motorcycling in the country.
It was affirmed that Motorcycling Ireland will continue to be the sole governing body for motorcycle sports in Ireland. The clubs comprising the Road Race Alliance of Ireland will re-affiliate to Motorcycling Ireland, where they will have equal representation and voice within the motorcycle racing community.
In the spirit of goodwill and cooperation the Parties have agreed to work together to re-establish a full motorcycle sports calendar in the near future.
The Road Race Alliance of Ireland will retain its identity but refocus its energy on promoting and marketing road racing in Ireland for its
members and any road racing club who wishes to avail of their services. These services will compliment Motorcycling Irelands governance role, ensuring a cohesive and effective approach to developing the sport of
motorcycling as a whole.
Each of Motorcycling Ireland and the Road Race Alliance of Ireland are grateful to the Minister O’Donovan for his intervention in progressing discussions and supporting the parties. We look forward to a bright
future for the sport and its participants.
So in summary it seems now that :
- All road racing clubs in Ireland will fall back under the governance of Motorcycling Ireland.
- The re-affiliated Clubs will have an equal voice ‘at the table’ with all other clubs.
- Work will start on getting road racing back onto the calendar – ‘in the near future.’
- RRAI – will focus on promoting and marketing Irish road racing.
In my opinion – Whilst this initially does read that we are pretty much back to the status quo as per the start of the year. These last few months have shown that where there is a will there is a way.
RRAI did manage to get an insurance policy quoted. They also managed to get four events scheduled and it shows that the road racing clubs are prepared to work hard to get racing back on Irish roads. The Crowd Funding campaign did raise almost £10,000, however figures for the insurance policy quoted seem to be anywhere from £200,000 – £400,000. Realistically there is still a huge funding barrier and insurance may yet still prove to be a huge stumbling block of road racing’s return.
I do feel that having a dedicated voice, such as the RRAI, right in the ear and at the table with Motorcycling Ireland will keep a strong focus on working on securing racing back on Ireland’s roads.
There is a still a lot of work to do, but hopefully with the experience and overall governance of all Clubs under the same MCI banner and the ongoing promotion of this aspect of Motorcycle Sports we must look at the positives and hope that all Clubs, the MCI, the RRAI, and maybe even the Irish Government are able to get bikes back on the roads in 2026.
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