There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks that the WRC may return to Ireland in 2025. Whilst I must say this will be a massive results for the motorsport industry across the province, I’m concerned that Northern Ireland would be left out from it.
Back in 2020 that had been talks of Northern Ireland hosting the World Rally Championship. Dubbed as Rally UK, this would replace the older Rally GB event and have various home nations such as Scotland and Wales hosting the event on a transitional period every year.
Crunch talks with government ministers are scheduled for this month and North Antrim MP Ian Paisley – who has fronted the idea with Belfast businessman and former Circuit of Ireland Rally boss Bobby Willis – admits time is not a commodity interested parties and stakeholders have if they hope to pull the move off.
The UK has been absent from the World Rally Championship calendar the COVID pandemic put the brakes on it. In 2021 it lost its slot to Ypres Rally in Belgium after an agreement in principle with Motorsport UK and the Northern Ireland Executive failed to materialise.
Plans to run the proposed closed-road event out of Belfast for 2023 were also deemed unviable, thus giving the NI supporters Bob Willis and others the time and space to work on plans for 2024.
Sadly this has come to nothing as they have been unable to secure the necessary funding, believed to be approximately £3 million.
The matter of securing government funding for a UK WRC round was raised in Prime Minister’s Questions the House of Commons earlier this year by Greg Smith – MP for Buckingham and the co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Motorsport.
Smith urged the government to underwrite £1m to help the project that he explained would generate in excess of £100m to the economy.
If Northern Ireland can host the Irish & British Open (Golf), various national events such as St Patricks Day etc then there shouldn’t been no excuses as to why it can’t host a WRC event. Potentially as once in a lifetime moment for many motorsport fans I hope we will see positivity in regards to this circumstance.
Special stages such as Belfast, Hamiltons Folly, the Sperrins to name but a few, this has to happen. United we stand divvied we fall is a phrase I’ve heard a lot in my lifetime, I think this is something which rally fans need to do in order to make this dream into a reality.
