Just days after it was announced Cycling Ireland and its high performance director Phil Leigh had “parted ways”, the association has been hit by two further departures.
Founding member of the women’s commission, Valerie Considine, and long time commission member and Cycling Ireland board member, Orla Hendron, both resigned today.
In a statement they said they were satisfied with the milestones they had reached in the development of women’s cycling and now believed the time was right to pass the baton to “someone else”.
Both have been key figures within the Cycling Ireland organisation for a decade and their departures will come as a blow.
Considine founded the women’s commission in 2002 and ran it on her own in the early stages. She has been chairperson and treasurer of the commission.
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Hendron has been the commission’s development officer and is also a member of the board of Cycling Ireland. Stickybottle understands she is also stepping down from her position on the board.
One informed source insisted there was no link between the two resignations and Phil Leigh’s departure late last week.
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“Women’s racing has never been healthier,” said Considine of the timing of her departure.
“And the presence of Orla Hendron on the board of Cycling Ireland over the past few years has made a huge contribution to raising the awareness of women’s racing on a national basis.”
Hendron said her and Considine’s resignations created exciting vacancies for others to fill.
“The time is right to hand over the reigns to new commission members who can take the strong women’s cycling scene to the next level,” she said.
Since the women’s commission was established in 2002, participation levels in women’s racing have hugely increased and a high performance structure has also been put in place.
Regional and national leagues enhance a strong domestic women’s scene and in recent years participation in those events has increased four-fold.
The Ras na mBan race has become an international fixture and was this year extended to five days after attracting sponsorship from An Post.
Irish teams began regularly competing abroad following the establishment of the commission, and structures were established to fund elite female riders in the same way their male counterparts had always been supported.
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