Sport Ireland, formerly known as the Irish Sports Council, introduced local sports partnerships (LSPs) following their very first strategy. The aim of these LSPs would be to promote participation in sport at a local level. Over the following years this initiative expanded to encompass every county in the Republic of Ireland (there are similar initiatives in Northern Ireland). The three main functions of the sports partnership in any given location are to provide information, education and to develop and implement a strategic plan for local sport that would help increase participation. Fast forward 12 + years, and the work done by the Sports Partnerships has made a real difference in societies. Cycling is a sport that has benefited considerably from these initiatives.
We caught up with John Sweeney, the Local Sports Co-ordinator with Clare Sports Partnership, and asked him about their work and cycling in Clare.
There are Sports Partnerships right around the country. What do you do?
Our main role is to support the development of sports and physical activity in our counties. This is achieved in many ways including working directly with clubs and communities. What we really are trying to achieve is a sustained increase in sport across the country. Cycling is no exception to this. A good example of how we achieve this in Clare is through our Bike for Life programme. We started this in 2013 with a group of 20 ladies. At the start we called this the 0-60km group, a bit like a couch to 5k. Once CI introduced the bike for life we quickly changed over. Since 2013 we have over 120 ladies trained and this has also been the catalyst for the Clare Ladies Cycling Cub which we help set up. They have nearly 100 members and will be running their own sportive on the 23 April - Turas Na mBan, in Ennis. A exciting project that may get of the ground this year will be the inclusion of a Pump Track in our community sports hub in Clarisford Park in Killaloe. We are involved in a lovely project there with a fantastic group headed up by Caroline Madden. The track will be a great addition to the youth cycling community.
Clare SP runs the An Post Tour de Burren, an event that attracts a huge number of entries - tell us a bit about the routes and how people can register. 
This year we have three new routes of c. 60km, c.100km and c.160km. They are fantastic routes that really showcase the Burren in all its ruggedness and glory. We have taken out the Corkscrew hill but included the cracker, Ballyalaban. This is a spectacular climb. We are having a very special event on the hill this year that will really give the cyclists a boost. We are recreating a Dutch Corner ! We pride ourselves of trying to do something special each year that will make the time in the Burren special. To register for the event, www.tourdeburren.com. We only have 2000 places and this is filling up fast.
· When someone registers for one of the events in the An Post Cycle Series, what happens to the funds that are raised?
We constantly get asked this question. All the profits that Clare LSP of the cycle go back into the development of sport and physical activity in the county. The biggest chunk of this goes to supporting the work of our disability officer and also towards primary school interventions. Nobody profits form the cycle, and that is true is all the events. The Burren cycling club are also partners with us on this event and any profits that they make have gone into the Development of their club in terms of their new racing team, spinning bikes for the winter etc. They are an excellent and extremely progressive club and its great working with them.
What other activities take place in Clare throughout the year?There are many cycling activities happening in Clare. It's a very active cycling county. All of the clubs have their sportives over the coming months. As mentioned already Turas Na mBan takes place on the 23rd and also the junior tour is here in July and the Grand Fondo in August. One of the lesser known but fantastic areas to cycle in is the Loop Head peninsular and West Clare CC have a lovely cycle there called Loop ten Loop. Keep and eye out for it as it is a wonderful day out.
Where can people find out more details about what happens in your Sports Partnership, and indeed in their own LSP?
All our details are available on claresportspartnership.ie and for the An Post Tour de Burren, tourdeburren.com