Cycling Ulster has described itself as "extremely disappointed" after the outcome of talks it requested with Cycling Ireland over the increase in cost of a one-day licence and the transaction fees charged when riders enter events.
The provincial organisation was contacted by its members on both issues in recent months and representatives of some of the biggest, and most active, clubs from Ulster also raised the matter of transaction fees at the Cycling Ireland annual meeting in Monaghan late last year.
Cycling Ulster has also now called on clubs to share information with it about the number of people entering races, and taking out one day licences, this year compared to previous seasons. It wants to assess the impact of the recent changes on participation levels in events.
The Leisure Commission had also previously been critical of the Cycling Ireland decision to increase the costs of one-day licences, though the national governing body said the fees were increased amid inflationary pressures in the wider economy.
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"Over the last six weeks, the executive has met with representatives of Cycling Ireland on a number of occasions to discuss the changes and concerns of our members," Cycling Ulster said. "This included the interim CEO and president of the board as well as other members of staff.
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"We appreciate these changes were brought about without fore warning or consultation with members. We explained the negative impact these changes will have on our members who organise events and the potential impact of decreased participation in our sport across the island. We advocated very strongly for Cycling Ireland to reverse these decisions and open a consultation process with members.
"Unfortunately our efforts have not been successful. To say we are extremely disappointed is an understatement, however, we will continue to work constructively with Cycling Ireland on this matter and they have committed to keep this under review throughout the year. We are sorry not to bring better news at this time and we do wholly understand the difficulties you face as a result of these decisions.
"We want to call on all event organisers and promoters to share feedback with us on numbers attended and comparison of one day licence uptake from last year. We really value the work that you do to organise high quality sporting experiences and none of us want to see a decrease in participation."
In January, Cycling Ireland announced the cost of the one-day licence would increase from €10 to €20, or £9 to £18. It said it was a "necessary step brought about by increased costs and inflationary pressure which has been experienced by organisations nationwide”.
It added the revenue raised from the sale of full memberships – which can be purchased by leisure, commuter or racing cyclists – “contributes to the support and development of cycling across the island of Ireland”.
Cycling Ireland also said at the AGM last November it would raise the matter of transaction fees with EventMaster, the system it uses for race and sportive entries. However, it added it was in a multi-year contract with the company and would face financial penalties if that contract was broken.
