Those involved in the early days of setting up the Irish Cycling Tripartite Committee followed by the Federation of Irish Cyclists, now Cycling Ireland, were saddened to learn of the death, recently, of Bert Slader at the age of 85 after a long illness.
Bert came to prominence as a prolific writer of climbing and walking books as well as a renowned national and international mountaineer. He was responsible for the establishment of the Northern Ireland Mountain Centre and the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team.
However it was in his role as Deputy Director of the Sports Council for Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s that he proved his ability as an arbitrator when he and another SCNI employee Frank Kelly, spent many many hours and indeed years in bringing the three cycling bodies on the island of Ireland, the National Cycling Association (32 counties), the Irish Cycling Federation (26 counties) and the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (6 counties) together.
There were many bridges to cross before the Irish Cycling Tripartite committee was formed in 1977 after some 5 years of unofficial meetings and another 10 years of meetings before the FIC came into being. Those of us who were involved in that historical coming together have a lot to be thankful for as those two quietly spoken gentlemen from the SCNI were so persuasive.
If it had not been for their skill as arbitrators in keeping us heading in the right direction towards amalgamation we would not have one of the most highly respected National Federations in Ireland today..