Packed weekend of racing in Ireland

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

There are no shortages of events on this weekend in Ireland. On Friday there is a round-the-houses event in Lurgan which invariably has a good turn out of spectators to cheer on the participants. Saturday sees the Ballinrobe Two-Day, attracting a record number of entrants for this time of year, particularly after last weekend's racing in Listowel and Kilrush, where professionals Paul Griffin (Giant Asia) and Ciarán Power (Navigators Insurance) took the honours at respective locations. It is envisaged those racing in that neck of the woods will make their presence felt in the Co. Mayo town.

Included in the line up will be Michael Steed of the Murphy Surveyors/Kilcullen CC team, who is the defending champion. Michael’s placings in the last three weeks would suggest that he is running into form at the right moment. Fortunately, Michael will have strong team support which will go a long way towards retaining the trophy.

Incidentally, Tadhg Moriarty, who has run the Listowel event for the last 24 years, is not happy with the way things are shaping up in future. "The Gene Moriarty Trophy has been a regular race in Listowel for over 24 years," he said. "The August Bank Holiday weekend has been part and parcel of a shared racing forum between the two towns and according to sources within Cycling Ireland, we are going lose the slot! So, I am not a happy camper."

For those with an appetite for a Saturday evening race, Navan/Avonmore CC has been providing races in the general of Meath over the last few weekends. There is an evening race in Kilnaleck which is being organised by the club.

On Sunday it is either the Brendan Campbell Memorial in Stamullen, or the Tour of Armagh, where both promoters can be counted to serve up good fare.