Cyclists will be pretty cheesed off to learn that a visiting politician’s sleeping arrangements are the reason the National Road Championships have been booted out of the Phoenix Park. Above, the US Ambassador's residence is in the Phoenix Park where Joe Biden is expected to stay.
By Brian Canty
The visit of US vice president Joe Biden to Ireland next month is behind the Garda’s decision to veto the use of Dublin’s Phoenix Park for the National Road Championships.
Biden’s visit, during the last full week in June, coincides with national championships weekend, which is always the last weekend in the month.
And because the US Ambassador's residence is in the Phoenix Park and Biden will stay there most nights he is in Ireland, the park will simply be shut down as a security precaution to accommodate him.
Advertisement
He will likely be flown by helicopter into the US Ambassador's residence compound in the park to sleep overnight from whatever part of the country he has been visiting that day.
Biden has long said he wanted to come to Ireland to trace his ancestry while he was still in office. His term ends with Barack Obama’s next January when a new president is sworn in.
Related News
Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the last 24 hours confirmed on a visit to the US that Biden would be coming to Ireland next month and now it seems the road and TT title races are the first casualty of that visit.
The championships were set to begin with the elite and U23 men’s and women’s time trials on Thursday, June 23rd.
There would be a break in the action the following day but on Saturday the women and masters riders would ride their title races.
And on Sunday, June 26th, the championships were set to conclude with the men’s combined elite and U23 road race.
Details of Biden’s visit have not yet been fully confirmed, though he is expected to be in Ireland from June 21st to 25th.
He is expected to spend time in Co Dublin as well as Louth and Mayo, where his family came from.
The fact the park has been ruled out means the plans Orwell Wheelers have been putting in place over the past 10 weeks for championships based around the park have been for nothing.
And the club, which only stepped in recently to try to rescue the troubled championships, must now start from scratch with just over five weeks remaining.
Topics
