€250,000 to roll in from annual cycling event

NORTH Clare is set for a €250,000 economic boost later this year as 2,500 cyclists take part in this year’s An Post Tour de Burren.
This is the seventh year of the event, which will take place on June 23 in Ballyvaughan.
“The An Post Tour de Burren has a national reputation of being a quality event, in a unique environment, and we want to maintain that,” said co-organiser of the 2012 event, John Sweeney, Clare Sports Partnership.
According to Barbara Faulkner, chair of the Clare Tourism Forum, “The success of this event over the past number of years has helped raise the profile of the area and provided a huge boost to the local economy. It is estimated that again this year the event will bring revenue of €250,000.”
There are four routes this year for the event and three of them have brand new elements to them.
“We have spiced up the routes this year. We are very conscious that a number of the cyclists may have been on the course before, so we changed them to offer variety over previous years,” explained Patrick O’Donoghue from the Burren Cycling Club.
He paid tribute to “the work that Clare County Council is doing in ensuring that the roads are in top shape for the event. This is the same every year and we always get comments from the participants complementing the road surface.
“Our big routes this year are 66km, 108km and 162km. All routes can be seen on www.tourdeburren.com. We will be doing a leaflet drop to houses along the route that will experience an increase in the number of cyclists on June 23. We also have our family cycle of 12km, which attracts 200 families. This is a very safe event with no danger of traffic to the cyclists due to the marshalling,” he added.
Monies raised from the An Post Tour de Burren are reinvested back into the community through the work of the Clare Sports Partnership and the Burren Cycling Club.
Over 150 volunteers are used on the day and these are sourced from local sports clubs and groups who get a donation from the organising committee for their help.
This year there are six sports clubs that will benefit directly from this scheme: The Goya Gang; Lisdoonvarna Camogie; Kilfenora Gun Club; Liscannor GAA; No Limits Surf Club and Fanore Defibrillator Group. The coast guard will also be on standby to give a hand at Castle Hill, Doolin.