World Rally Championship bid includes trio of venues but relies on Government funding

Motorsport Ireland has opted to include all three proposed host locations in their bid to bring the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) back to Ireland for the years 2025-27.

Kerry, Limerick, and the South East region, based out of Waterford, had been in contention to host the Ireland bid, however, all three have now been included.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport last week, Motorsport Ireland president Aiden Harper said it would be whittled down to the final selection, stating: "Through a process of elimination, we are down to three locations in the country whereby we have three very suitable venues.

"Any one of them could be turned into a World Rally Championship service park. So we're now down to the final three and it will go through a process of elimination later on this week."

But now, all three have been included in a bid to bring the marquee rally tour back to Ireland having previously featured in the championship in 2007 and 2009, while the success of the bid is also dependent on the back of the Irish government.

According to a statement released today, following the launch of the bid in Dublin, "such was the quality of the proposals put forward by each venue that the selection committee, in conjunction with the WRC Promoter, have decided to rotate the venue for each of the three years Ireland are seeking to be included in the Championship".

Speaking on today’s announcement, Harper said: "In Kerry, Limerick and the South East, we have a trio of world class venues that will be ideal hubs for the event.

"Today’s announcement is obviously predicated on securing Government funding and this is a process that is underway at present.

"Our bid is currently under consideration by senior management in the Major Sports Events Unit of the