Kenny tells TDs: On yer bike!
Given his busy schedule, Mr Kenny, who will be participating for the fourth time, has found it difficult to get time to train for the 170km event which he has described as a personal annual highlight.
“Sharing the road with some 8,000 people from all walks of life, of all ages and of all levels of ability is an incredible leveler,’’ he said.
“There is also a great sense of togetherness on ‘the Ring’, with thousands of people coming together each year to fundraise for worthy charities in their local communities. That adds to the spirit of the ‘meitheal’ that you get on the cycle.
Now in its 30th year, the cycle has so far raised EURO 5.7m for many worthy causes.
Mr Kenny will be accompanied on the cycle by his son, Ferdia, and also taking part will be Tourism and Transport Leo Varadkar, Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan, junior ministers Sean Sherlock and Ciaran Cannon, MEP Sean Kelly and Kerry FG TD Brendan Griffin.
Due to the phenomenal uptake in registrations this year, the event is already at full capacity and no further participants are being accepted.
RTE southern editor Paschal Sheehy, another regular in the cycle, has presented Mr Kenny with a Ring of Kerry 2013 cycling jersey to mark his continued support of the event.
Mr Sheehy, who will be fundraising for the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, said the cycle was a unique event with its own personality.
“It’s like a Munster final, only better. At the Munster final, you’re separated from the players by a fence. There’s a divide, a hierarchy,’’ he said.
‘’On the Ring, however, there are no such barriers. The fella on the High Nelly wearing an old T-shirt, football togs and sand shoes gets to rub shoulders with elite cyclists.
“And then there’s the scale of the thing _ it’s huge! Thousands of people hurtling along the winding south Kerry roads, united by a common cause,’’ he added
Further details on the cycle are available on www.ringofkerrycycle.ie
