Boost for north Meath as bike races return
The Kells Road Races are set to make a return this summer attracting tens of thousands of visitors and hundreds of thousands worth of business to the area at the end of June.
After a two year absence, the very popular Kells Road Races will be back on the Crossakiel circuit on 21st and 22nd June .
Racing enthusiasts from all over the world are expected to flock to Kells for the biggest sporting event on the Meath calendar.
The motorcycle road races last took place in 2011, but due to extremely bad weather, it was a financial disaster for the Kells Club. The previous year the club had to abandon racing after three races, also due to the weather.
The news has been warmly welcomed by local businesses who are expecting a major financial boost along with the huge influx of visitors expected for the event.
The Cathaoirleach of Kells Town Council, Cllr Oliver Sweeney said the event would keep Kells firmly on the tourism map and was a major boost on top of the news that the Hay Festival would return to the town again this year.
Aileen Ferguson, race secretary, said it was due to the hard work of many dedicated people that the races will be back on the Crossakiel Circuit this year.
“It is hoped that with a lot of help, Kells Road Races can resume their standing in the sporting calendar as the biggest sporting event in North Meath.”
She said the feedback from everyone has been fantastic with messages coming in from Belfast, Cork, Dublin, England, Scotland, Wales, Portugal, Australia and everyone is very excited to see the Kells Road Races coming back.
The action starts on Friday 20th June with a Charity Classic Run. There will be practice runs for all classes on the Saturday and the race day itself takes place in Crossakiel on the Sunday.
Cllr Sweeney said the races always bring tens of thousands of racing enthusiasts to the town.
“It creates a great amount of excitement and local businesses are always very busy. It creates hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business,” he said.