The island of Ireland intends to pursue a joint North-South bid to host the opening stages of a future Tour de France.
Ministers Catherine Martin and Gordon Lyons have submitted an expression of interest in the formal bidding process to the Tour organisers.
Officials in both their Departments will now collaborate on the development of a detailed bid to host the event, ideally in either 2026 or 2027.
It is felt that staging such an event would have significant tourism, sports and wider benefits for the island of Ireland.
The opening stage of the Tour was held in Ireland once before, in 1998, when it wound around the street of Dublin, the Wicklow mountains and the long road to Cork.
In 2014, the Giro d’Italia repeated the trick starting in Belfast and crossing the border to finish the opening stage in Dublin.
They are massive undertakings but attract the eyes of the sporting world and huge local turnouts.
Sport has long been a safe and friendly way of reaching across the border. The 1998 Tour de France had large numbers travelling from the North and showing Ireland off as an island of peace only three months after the Good Friday agreement.
Renewing that sense of shared experience can only be a good thing.
“Hosting the world’s greatest cycle race would be an exciting opportunity for the island of Ireland,” said Minister Catherine Martin. “I was delighted to meet Minister Lyons again during my recent trip to Belfast and to agree to express a joint interest in hosting three full stages for Le Grand Départ of the Tour de France, ideally in 2026 or 2027.”
“Our shared experience in hosting major sports events, our cooperative approach in marketing the entire island of Ireland as a tourism destination, and the wonderful scenery and céad míle fáilte that awaits visitors to Ireland could all combine to create an amazing all-island event.”
“This collaborative process has my full support and I will engage with colleagues across Government on this in the coming weeks.”
“Securing the opening stages of the Tour de France would be a fantastic opportunity for Northern Ireland to feature on the world stage and add to the growing list of major sporting events that have come here in recent years,” added Minister for the Economy in the Northern ireland Assembly, Gordon Lyons.
“People will fondly remember the success of the Giro d’Italia ‘Big Start’ in 2014, and I am confident that together we would be able to successfully host the Grand Depart. Major events such as this not only bring about huge economic benefits but give us a tremendous opportunity to showcase everything that is great about Northern Ireland.”
