Rás director Eimear Dignam said without a cash reserve this time, the race needs a new sponsor very soon.
Rás Tailteann director Eimear Dignam said the race needs a new sponsor soon to ensure it goes ahead next year, saying its cash reserves are now completely gone.
An injection of cash from a sponsor is needed immediately so the organisers can go ahead and take practical steps for a race next year, such as putting down desposits on hotel rooms.
Last year the organisers - Cumann Rás Tailteann cycling club – had the luxury of the cash reserve to fall back on. And it was used to fund last year’s edition when no sponsor was found.
An Post had previously backed the race but its association with the event ended after the 2017 edition.
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And in 17 months since then, the organisers have searched for a new backer but have not found one.
Eimear Dignam is a member of the Dignam family, which has been synonimous with the race for decades.
Her father Dermot is the former race director and the hosting of the race has seen the Dignams but in tireless work with a team of volunteers. They had included another former race director Tony TC Campbell.
But despite going about the hunt for a new back with their usual energy and driver, Cumann Rás Tailteann has come up short.
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The lingering issues with the economy have worked against the club. And though an economic revival is underway, fears over Brexit loom large. Big companies and treading carefully when it comes to new expenditure.
But Eimear Dignam has said the race is now approaching crunch time; a new backer is needed, and needed fast.
The minimum cost of €280,000 to run the race last year absorbed every penny of the cash in reserve that was built up by the promoting club.
Dignam said it would be a “disaster” if the race did not go ahead next year, especially since it goes back to 1953.
"It would be a disaster if it didn't take place," said Eimear Dignam, adding many of our pro riders broke through on the race.
"You have to be optimistic, otherwise you'd just give up, and we're not giving up by any stretch of the imagination," she told the Irish Independent.
The hunt for a new sponsor had “stalled” and she wanted people to know the race still needed a backer.
"We need money for deposits to secure rooms for the riders, people don't realise that," she added of the commercial reality that will kick in soon in December at the latest.
"I don't think it's anything to do with the doping in cycling, because the Rás has always had a different sort of image.
“I do think the big companies are looking for the big-dollar sports. I'm working in Dublin GAA, I see how easy it is for the commercial director to get commercial partners on board.”
For anyone who wants to contact the Rás, the can do so via Twitter here and also through Facebook.
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