Philip Cassidy with son Mark checking out the Rás route for the day back in 2009. Now he is teaming up with Sean Kelly to back developer Johnny Ronan's new sports hotel in Co Wicklow.
Having hit testing times like most other property developers of his generation and operating at a massive scale, Johnny Ronan is back in business and looking to develop a new sports hotel that would cater for cyclists.
And two names very well known on the Irish cycling scene and much further afield are getting behind the project; former world number 1 Sean Kelly and Olympian and double Rás winner Philip Cassidy.
Both Kelly and Cassidy know Ronan well and have cycled with him in Calpe, Spain, when Kelly’s team An Post-Chainreaction has had its pre-season training camp there.
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And Kelly has also ridden some leisure events in Mallorca with Ronan when he has been holding his SportActive cycling holidays there.
The Sunday Independent reports that Ronan’s new development company – Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) – has made an application to develop a 141-room hotel in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
The area is a playground for cyclists, walkers, kayakers and others involved in adventure sports who flock to that part of Wicklow – known as the garden of Ireland – for activity holidays; travelling from all parts of Ireland and abroad.
Johnny Ronan is an avid cyclist and has taken part in many events that Sean Kelly does with SportActive
The new hotel, which will specifically target those looking to go to Wicklow for cycling holidays and to pursue the other sports popular in the area, would be built on the grounds of St Valery's House.
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The development will be welcomed by many in cycling and is a strong indication that the private sector sees the potential in promoting Ireland, especially Wicklow and the surrounding area, as a cycling holiday destination.
Kelly is one of a number of parties to have written to Wicklow County Council expressing his support for the project.
In his correspondence he has pledged to locate many of his trophies from his significant wins to the hotel for a display there.
And he has expressed his willingness to also put other collectables from his career at the hotel, which could include bikes and jerseys though that is not clear yet.
Cassidy has also expressed support, telling the council Ronan’s project is a fantastic opportunity to develop sporting tourism in Ireland as the authorities in the UK and other parts of Europe have.
According to Ronald Quinlan in The Sunday Independent, the two big cycling names are not the only people getting behind Ronan in trying to convince Wicklow County Council of the project’s merits.
The Enniskerry Traders group has leant its vital support from within the local community.
For its part, Ronan’s company says the development of a sports hotel would add to Wicklow’s offering to tourists and would create about 150 long term jobs.
Ronan’s past projects suggest he is likely to get this new sporting hotel over the line.
He previously developed the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on the Powerscourt Estate not far from the site of the proposed new sports hotel and also developed or owned four hotels in the heart of Dublin when he ran Treasury Holdings.
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