Cross-border plan for this year's Kells Road Races

The latest cross-border iniatives got up and running last week when road racing clubs in Kells and Armoy, Co Antrim joined forces to launch a new event. Ireland's first ever cross-border motorcyling championship will take place on the weekends of 17th/18th July and 6th/7th August. The Armoy/Kells Cross Border Championship is the brainchild of committee members from both the Armoy Motorcycle Road Racing Club and Kells & District Motorcycle Racing Club. The organisers hope to attract a high-calibre line-up of competitors from Britain and Ireland, North and South. The launch of the championship was hosted last week by motorcycling fan and Northern Ireland MLA Ian Paisely Jnr at Parliament Buildings in Stormont. The event was also attended by Northern Ireland Sports Minister Nelson McCausland and officials from both the Kells and the Armoy clubs, as well as councillors from the Moyle District Council and Kells Town Council. Top road racing names in attendance included William Dunlop, Ryan Farquhar, John Burrows, Adrian Archibald and Wayne Hamilton. The first round of the championship will take place in Kells on the 17th/18th July with the second round being staged in Armoy a few weeks later with the championship offering participants a total prize fund of €6,000. The launch of the Kells Road Races and the Armoy/Kells Cross Border motorcycle run has been welcomed by Deputy Thomas Byrne. Deputy Byrne travelled to Stormont with members of the Kells MCRC, including chairman, Johnny Landy, councillors from Kells Town Council and Meath County Council's road safety officer, Michael Finnegan. He said he was pleased to see that the motorcyclists are also involving other sports enthusiasts in the event as they hope to welcome the rugby and Gaelic teams from Armoy to Kells to play matches in the week leading up to the race. "The Kells Cougars and our local soccer team will also visit Co. Antrim." "The Kells races on their own are a huge tourism boost to north Meath, bringing over 30,000 people to the area. I am delighted to be supporting it in the week I opened my constituency office in Kells. "These events will go a long way to promoting cross-border friendships and healthy competition. I hope that these will be the first of many such events," concluded Deputy Byrne.