Cycling dealt massive blow as top officials resign

THERE was a huge shock for Irish cycling last night with news that the two highest-ranking members of the High Performance Committee had resigned their posts.

Paul Butler, chairman, and Ciaran McKenna, director, both departed a couple of days before the first big classic of the season, the Des Hanlon Memorial.

Neither was ready to comment on the reason for the resignations.

Butler more or less turned his back on competitive cycling when he agreed to head the High Performance Committee while McKenna, another former cyclist and a former PRO of the Irish Cycling Federation, was the driving force within the committee, which has introduced a new dimension to cycling in this country.

Butler hails from Carrick-on-Suir and has a close relationship with Sean Kelly. This played a major part in the Team Ireland project in Belgium where Kelly’s connections were used to set up a system which is the envy of many nations.

Under the scheme, a house is rented in Belgium where Irish cyclists can live and train and have access to top races. This year races like the Bastogne Liege and the Tour of Flanders have been opened up to Irish riders.

“We had a good set-up for the coming year with a number of UCI 1.5 and 1.4 races and, hopefully, the scheme will continue under new leadership,” Butler said. “We have put a lot of work into it.”

While he was unwilling to discuss the reason for the resignations he admitted that it had been a very difficult decision.

“I was the Olympic team manager and I have surrendered that position,” he said. “As a competitive cyclist I would have loved to get to the Olympic Games. The next best thing was to go there as manager. That is how strongly I feel about this. It is disappointing as we have been putting two to three hours a day into cycling but I can’t see us being involved again unless there is a big turnaround.”

The resignation of McKenna will be seen as a major blow to Irish cycling. He has been involved at this level for a number of years and, in recent times, the Irish Sports Council funding has doubled. A database of riders has also been established and numbers are expected to show a rise of at least 20% this year.

“It is true to say that I have resigned over a decision that has yet to be made public,” was his only comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, a member of the Strategy Committee could be to the forefront on Sunday when evergreen Philip Cassidy will go to the line as one of the favourites for the Des Hanlon Memorial in Carlow.

“It is one race I would like to win,” he said. “I think it is about the only Classic that has eluded me. I was second in 2000 to Eddie O’Donoghue when I punctured.”

It appears as if David O’Loughlin could be missing this weekend as he is due to return to Foto Lombardi while Tommy Evans may also have gone back to the Continent.

But there were a number of pointers last weekend.

Timmy Barry (Cidona Carrick) deliberately delayed his start to the season but he was very impressive in winning the Silver Pail Grand Prix in Fermoy on Sunday.

He is a tough cyclist and the course will hold no fears for him.

Eddie O’Donoghue has won this race before and knows what it is all about but the most improved rider in the country this year has to be Clareman Vincent Gleeson and, with two big wins under his belt already, he could be on the verge of the biggest victory of his career.

Brian Ahern from Naas is another showing form.