Cycling Ireland membership has suffered significantly since Ireland went it lock-down in March, with new membership numbers plummeting.
The national governing body has said new memberships were
down by 33 per cent in March and by 84 per cent in April.
It has released the information as part of a Federation of
Irish Sports statement seeking the establishment of a resilience fund for sport
and a special task force.
The Federation of Irish Sports is an umbrella
representative body for national governing bodies and for local sports
partnerships.
It has called on the Government to establish a task force
“to specifically focus on the survival and re-ignition of sport organisations
nationwide”.
The federation made its appeal to Government in a statement
issued on Monday in which there was also an update from a number of sports,
including cycling, about how Covid19 had impacted those sports.
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In his brief statement, Cycling Ireland chief executive
Matt McKerrow set out how dependant the federation was on membership funds and
how hard it had been hit in that regard.
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"The Covid19 pandemic has had a
significant financial impact on Cycling Ireland, with the cancellation of
events nationwide, and the cessation of all club activities,” McKerrow said.
“In 2019, Cycling Ireland’s total income was
€4.5 million, with almost one-third coming from membership.
“The restrictions have resulted in a decrease
in the number of members - in particular racing members - for March and April,
by 33 per cent and 84 per cent respectively.
“Cycling Ireland continues to be supported
with grant income from a number of agencies including Sport Ireland, Sport NI
and DTTAS.
“Cycling Ireland operates on a not-for-profit
basis, with all membership invested into the development of the sport, getting
more people on bikes and delivering success on the world stage.”
At the end of last year the total membership of Cycling
Ireland was 25,003, down about five per cent on 2018. Of those, about 17,000 were
leisure licences.
While other sports did not set out the impact of Covid19 on their
membership numbers, they recounted a bleak picture for their activities as a
result of the suspension in all sporting activities.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel for cycling, with group
riding and racing set to resume from August 10th.
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