Last chance to safeguard the future of Irish motorcycle racing

Keith Amor leading Ryan Farquhar at Athea Road Races 2009
Photo Stephen Davison

Last chance to safeguard the future of Irish motorcycle racing

This Saturday’s Motorcycling Ireland AGM could be the final opportunity to secure the future of motorcycle racing in the Republic of Ireland.

Mike Dalton, one of the founders of the Athea Road Racing Club, now operating as the Southwest Road Racing Club, is standing for election as Finance Director on the Board of Directors of Motorcycling Ireland (MCI).

The Southwest Road Racing Club, been working separately to revive the Athea Road Races. First held in 2002, the event’s most recent edition in 2011 attracted a strong entry list and was regarded as one of the highlights of the Irish road racing calendar.

Motorcycle racing in the Republic has been at a standstill since September 2023, when the last short-circuit event was held at Mondello Park. Road racing has not taken place since the summer of 2022.

Dalton and members of other motorcycle racing clubs met with Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, and Motorcycling Ireland officials earlier this year in an effort to resolve the insurance and governance issues that have paralysed the sport.
There has been little progress since that intervention meeting that was held in May.
Dalton said that if Saturday’s AGM does not result in a new direction, “the sport will run into the ground.”
He added that while assurances were given earlier in the year, “nothing has been done to follow the Minister’s wishes,” leaving Irish motorcycle racing “in limbo.”

The Motorcycling Ireland AGM will take place at the Castle Arms Hotel, Durrow, Co. Laois, on Saturday, November 8, at 2pm.
The election of a new board at Saturday’s AGM is being viewed as the last realistic chance for reform and revival of the sport before 2026.

Dalton is one of several new nominees standing for key positions, alongside Paul McMahon (President) and Stacey Wogan (PRO/Media).

Dalton, originally from Athea and now living in Templeglantine, has been involved in motorcycle racing since his teens. He helped found the Athea Road Racing Club in 2001 and became club president when it reformed in 2022 as the Southwest Motorcycle Road Racing Club.

He works as a Transport Manager and says his background in finance and compliance will be key if elected.

“Motorcycles have been a lifelong passion of mine,” Dalton said. “I’m very much a roll-up-your-sleeves kind of person, and I take pride in doing whatever is needed to make events successful.”

Wogan is well known in Kerry and Limerick motorcycle circles, having helped organise last September’s successful Anthony O’Carroll fundraiser in Ballyduff, which drew major support from riders across the country.

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