Rás Mumhan, which was to move to Tipperary from Kerry this year, will not take place on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend as planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, race organiser Peter Ryan told stickybottle it
was still “very much” hoped the race would go ahead this year at a later date.
Ryan said a new sponsor had come on board for the 2021
event and was committed to the race taking place later this year now that the
traditional Easter date is not possible.
As the race organisers were promoting their first Rás Mumhan this year, as it moved from Kerry to Tipperary, it was always planned to hold a three-day race this year rather than stick with the four-day format.
That decision was taken to make the event more manageable
for the new organising group in their first year. And it is now hoped the
shorter race may mean it will be easier to promote later in the season.
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Ryan said the organisers were very disappointed but with
the suspension of sport due to Covid-19 now set to continue until the end of
March or early April it was not possible to press ahead with the planned Easter
dates.
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“We’re still looking for dates later in the year to try
and run a version of the race but there’s just no way we could go ahead with
the original plan,” he said.
“But we are most definitely still exploring it for a date
later in the year and the new sponsor definitely wants it to go ahead; it’s a
new venture for them as well.
“The race is a big undertaking and of course we’re
bitterly disappointed with this development but in the interests of everyone we
just wanted to let people know about the change of plans as quick as we could.”
News of Rás Mumhan’s postponement will come as no
surprise as the uncertainty around the pandemic and the roll-out of vaccines
makes it almost impossible to make plans for major sports events at present.
News the Munster race is off, but with a view to holding it later in the year, follows similar news about the Gorey Three Day and also comes after a series of early season one-day events were called off or postponed.
Ben Healy claimed over victory at Rás Mumhan when the race was last held, in Kerry, in 2019. The final edition in Kerry had to be called off last year due to the pandemic. Since then the race had moved to Tipperary.
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