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Deputy Michael Healy Rae
A KERRY TD has expressed his disgust at what he called the Government’s lack of commitment towards supporting Motorsport Ireland’s bid to host a round of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2025.
Motorsport Ireland finally received confirmation from Minister Byrne, Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht, that his Department would need “at least six months” to undertake further independent economic assessments ahead of hosting the FIA World Rally Championship in Ireland, effectively putting an end to chances of hosting the round next year.
The Munster Technological University Kerry campus in Tralee was to be one of three bases in the country for the event. Deputy Michael Healy Rae says it’s a huge blow to the county.
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“The financial impact that the FIA World Rally Championship would have brought to the Irish economy was massively significant with Kerry picked to be one of the hosting venues,” said Deputy Healy Rae.
“The amount of World Rally tourists alone would have led to a massive trickle down of much needed income for our tourist industry right down to the small local shops.”
“The run around that the Government has given Motorsport Ireland has embarrassed all those wonderful volunteers in the face of world sport. Motorsport Ireland had their house in order and went to the Government last year, but they were obviously given the run around considering that they engaged with and submitted a full event screening application on October 6th, 2023.”
“What I am most disgusted about is the fact that once they submitted their application, they received no questions or feedback on any of the documents they submitted despite frequent communications to the Department seeking if additional information was required. That alone is proof that the Government even from the start of this process failed to show any real commitment towards the project,” Deputy Michael Healy Rae stated.
The Kerry deputy has thanked the work and commitment made on behalf of the Kerry, Limerick and the Southeast, the regions which were nominated to host the event and is calling on the Taoiseach Simon Harris to get involved to ensure that every effort is made to get the event to Ireland in 2026.
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