Denis Toomey with Catherine Walsh after another medal-winning ride at the London Paralympic Games last year.
Having presided over sustained success in the paracycling end of the sport in Ireland in recent years, Denis Toomey has won the contest to becoming Cycling Ireland president.
Toomey saw off the challenge of former road international and popular cycling figure Ciaran McKenna at Cycling Ireland’s AGM in Monaghan this afternoon, Saturday.
In dramatic scenes, the contest was tied when delegates cast their votes. This meant outgoing president Rory Wyley had the casting vote that would decide who his successor would be.
In his last action as president, he cast his election-deciding vote in favour of Toomey who carried the day as a result.
Toomey has been a member of Cycling Ireland since the late 1970s, having first joined Blarney Cycle Touring Club and then moved to Midleton CC when the Blarney club folded.
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He formed Tandem Cycling Ireland in 2000 after piloting a tandem for blind cyclist Joe Bollard in a coast-to-coast challenge across America.
He is chairman of Tandem Cycling Ireland and also chairman of the paracycling commission. He was previously PRO of the Munster Cycling Federation (now Cycling Munster).
He completed his training as a commissaire in 2013 and is a national classifier with Paralympics Ireland.
He was elected to the board of Cycling Ireland at the 2012 AGM and is Cycling Ireland’s representative on the European Handcycling Federation and at Paralympics Ireland.
He is best known for his work with the national paracycling set-up, with the team having secured five World Championship titles in 2012-2013, both on the track and on the road and winning two gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the London 2012.
Toomey competed as a tandem pilot at the Athens Games in 2004 and was cycling manager for the 2008 Games in Beijing and the London Games last year. He stepped down as Paracycling manager at the end of 2012.
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