Ian Paisley welcomes news that North West 200 is back on track after funding boost

In October, council voted to increase its financial contribution to Northern Ireland’s biggest motorcycle race by an additional £96,000 of in-kind support, coming on the heels of a warning by race chief Mervyn Whyte that the future of the event was in serious jeopardy.

However, the funding was put on hold after two separate ‘call-ins’ initiated by a number of Sinn Fein, SDLP and independent councillors, which required council to take legal opinion before revisiting the decision again at a full council meeting on Tuesday evening, when it was discussed confidentially.

The vote was retaken after legal judgement was considered, with the original funding proposal upheld.

North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said: “This is excellent news. The council has done more to protect the single largest boost to the local economy than national or local government.

"This is welcome confirmation that the event will go ahead and be bigger and better than ever before.

"Northern Ireland is the motorcycle world capital and this is the news we need to build the local economy next year.”

Council’s increased in-kind financial backing of £96,000 is to be used primarily to cover the costs involved in setting up the 8.9-mile North West 200 course, which became a priority after the course build manager resigned from the role this year.

The work will either be carried out directly by the council or by an external organisation via a tender process.

Following the initial decision in October to rubber-stamp the proposal, Whyte said the extra support would put the North West 200 on a “good footing” for 2023.

“We get a lot of support from council in-kind and this will get us over the line for 2023, and we’ll move forward from there,” he said.

“I think it leaves the North West 200 on a good footing moving forward and I’m well pleased with how things went, so it’s full steam ahead for 2023.”

The North West 200 returned this year for the first time since 2019 after back-to-back cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.