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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

Motorcycling Ireland 'alarmed' by promotion of race events

Motorcycling Ireland says it is "alarmed and annoyed" at the promotion of race events amid the coronavirus pandemic.

All Irish road races this year have been officially cancelled apart from the Tandragee 100 and Cookstown 100.

The Tandragee 100 has been postponed until further notice, while it was announced this week that the Cookstown 100 has been rescheduled for September.

The organisers of the Cookstown 100 said they plan to hold a closed event with restricted spectator numbers.

In a statement issued on Friday, Sean Bissett from Motorcycle Ireland - which is the southern governing body of the Motorcycle Union of Ireland - said: "We are alarmed and annoyed to read that some individual organising clubs within the MCUI (Ulster Centre) are still intending to promote events in this current climate.

"They do not have the authority or support of the Motorcycle Union of Ireland to promote these events in 2020.

"We also feel that they are bringing our sport unnecessarily into the public spotlight when the governments of Ireland are still trying to keep this epidemic under control.

"We have accepted that as for 2020 our motorcycling sport will not be adding any pressure on the various health and public departments throughout Ireland and would hope the Ulster Centre follows that lead as we look forward to joint planning for our return in 2021."

In response, the BBC reports that Cookstown 100 organisers have said that they still plan to try to run their event with 1500-2000 spectators.

The MCUI's Ulster Centre will have the final decision on whether the event can proceed in 2020.

It is currently discussing the current situation and a statement on the remainder of the current season is expected in the coming days.

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