Irish bid to host Grand Depart of Tour de France is withdrawn

The island of Ireland bid to host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in either 2026 or 2027 has been withdrawn.

Last year Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Minister Gordon Lyons MLA submitted an expression of interest in the formal bidding process to the Tour organisers.

Ireland last hosted Le Grand Départ in 1998 and the prospect of a Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland co-bid was seen as mutually beneficial.

However current Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Thomas Byrne TD confirmed to RTÉ Radio today that the bid has been shelved due to lack of elected government in Northern Ireland.

Minister Byrne said: "The bid was just about on the table in that there was genuine interest between Catherine Martin and Gordon Lyons at the time to do this from an economic, touristic and sporting perspective.

"But quite frankly with the lack of an elected political government in Northern Ireland, the civil servants who are effectively running the show aren't able to proceed with this. They simply don't have the funding. It simply can't happen, it can't get off the ground. It's a real pity actually.

"We would have loved to have done it.

He said it did not come under consideration for the Republic of Ireland to solely take on a bid and hopes to see the proposal revisited in the future, particularly if a solution is found in Northern Ireland.

He also said the bid was at a very early stage with limited costs incurred.

"It was always envisaged as a cross-border initiative and indeed some of my engagements with counterparts in France in recent months, it was very much advertised as a cross-border initiative and something we would do