Motorbike racing enthusiasts left in 'bleak' situation

Motorcycle racing enthusiasts are in a "bleak" situation this year with the cancellation of over 100 events because of the non-availability of insurance, according to the sport's governing body.

Calls have been made for the Government to intervene to make it easier for danger-related activities to get insured but for now the likes of motorcycle racing is facing an uncertain future.

"It's a serious problem," the president of Motorcycling Ireland, Seán Bissett, said.

"We can't get any insurance company to take us on at all. Up to the end of last year, we had insurance for 30-odd years without a break."

However, their former insurer "wouldn't touch us" this year, he said, while other insurers would not provide cover either, with the result that six major road-racing events due to take place throughout 2023, as well as over 100 smaller fixtures such as motocross and track-based racing, have been cancelled.

"It's very bleak," Mr Bissett added.

One of those large-scale events is the Faugheen 50, a weekend-long series of qualifiers and races which has been taking place around the village of Faugheen outside Carrick-on-Suir since the 1970s, and for two decades under its current guise.

"It's sad if there's no future in it," the president of the Faugheen 50 Road Racing Club, Alan O'Dwyer, said.

He himself has been involved in motorcycle racing since he was a child.

"It started off as a hobby and became more serious as the years went by, I was involved with racing and my family and kids came along with me. Later in years I became involved in organising the racing, which was progression.

"It's more than a hobby, a really good past-time and also a really good social scene for me. Through racing I made friends all over the country, north,