Dear Member,

It is hard to believe that we are half way through 2014 and from a cycling perspective the year got off to a really great start.  A silver medal at the Track World Championships by Martyn Irvine and great performances also by Ryan Mullen and Caroline Ryan.  The Paracycling squad continue to do us proud with a Track World Championship Silver Medal by Colin Lynch, followed by a Road Gold World Cup Medal, Mark Rohan winning a Gold and Bronze at the World Cup and Katie-George Dunlevy and new pilot Eve McCrystal winning 2 bronze Medals.

 What about Sam Bennett’s start to his World Tour career?  Great performances and potential for a lot more to come.  A big disappointment for Dan Martin in the Giro but Nicholas Roche and Philip Deignan flew the flag well.  The Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza 2014 was a great spectacle and the Irish public came out in their droves to welcome the peloton to the roads of Ireland.  A big thanks to the Volunteer Marshalls both North and South without whom the event would not have been possible.  A nice legacy is the hundreds of trained marshals that can help with your events in the future.  Fast on the heels of the Giro, the An Post Ras brought cycling at its best to the towns and villages as it circled the country.

International competition returned to Ireland on June 15th with the European Mountainbike Marathon Championships in Ballyhoura bringing the world’s top riders to compete here in Ireland.  Another International spectacle that was a credit to the organisers and all involved.  Ryan Mullen sparkled at the Road National Championships sweeping 3 titles on the same day we saw Minister Varadkar open our first European standard BMX Track in Lucan.

The National Youth Academy model has received Board approval and Academy Coach and National Development Coach positions have been advertised.  The Coach Education Department has trained over 200 coaches across all disciplines since January.  At grassroots level it was great to see over 3,000 attending Bike Fest at the start of Bike Week and kids of all ages learning new bike skills.

 Membership continues to grow and we hit a new membership record of 20,000 early this month.  This increase can be seen in the huge entries to the many sportives and charity cycles now taking place all around the country and also the level of participation at the mid-week and weekend races.

 Whilst there has been up and down developments on our various Velodrome options, the Sports Campus Authority has tendered for bids to bring a Velodrome Project in Abbotstown to the Planning and Tender Stage.  This is the first financial investment by the Department and is the final stage before construction can start.  Fingers crossed we will see the green light from the Minister for construction to start before year end.

 An exciting and productive first six months of the year and hopefully much more to come.  A Big Thank You to our Volunteers and Staff for your dedication and hard work.

Yours in Cycling


Denis Toomey

Honorary President