The death has been announced of Irish
cycling stalwart and former national team manager Richie Beatty.
From Dublin, Richie was involved in the
road racing scene from the 1980s and always took a keen interest in spotting
talent young and developing it.
He is of course most closely linked with
the highly successful, and recently revived, Dublin club Les Jeunes.
In that club he ran fantastic teams that included the likes of Frank Relph, Paul Kennedy, Paddy Callaly, Paddy Moriarty, JP Hilliard, Scott Kinsella, Richie McAuley, Jason Meredith and many more.
He was head of the Mid Eastern Region
provincial federation for many years from the early 1990s.
And though he ran for development
officer positions in the Federation of Irish Cyclists in the 1990s, he did not
secure a post.
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However, his clear ability to read races
and manage young talents was rewarded in 1998 when he was appointed manager of
the Irish elite road team for that season.
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He came into the job when the season was
already underway and his first task was to select an Irish team for the Rás
Tailteann.
He picked Ciaran Power, Brian Kenneally,
Neil Teggart, Tommy Evans and Karl Donnelly. Power, who was just 21-years-old
at the time, went on to win the race.
Later that year, and under the guidance
of Barry Monaghan and Richie Beatty, Sligo’s Mark Scanlon became junior world champion
in Valkenburg.
Richie retained the job of national team
coach in 1999 and also remained as president of the Mid Eastern Region.
The following season, 2000, he was the
manager of the national squad for the Olympic Games in Sydney.
Richie continued in cycling for eight
more seasons until 2007 when, during a second stint as national team manager,
he withdrew from that post.
He also indicated at the time he was
steeping away from his roles in Irish cycling.
He passed away yesterday where he lived in Fairview, Dublin. Details of his funeral can be seen by following this link.
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