No Irish road racing in Republic of Ireland this year due to prohibitive unsurance costs - only Armoy's 'Race of Legends' remains

The Skerries 100, Faugheen 50 and Munster 100 confirmed their events this summer had been called off in the wake of a meeting of the directors of the sport’s governing body in the south on Thursday, Motorcycling Ireland.

June’s Kells Road Races were cancelled earlier in May along with the Athea Road Races, which the newly-formed South West Road Racing Club hoped to run in August after the event’s absence from the calendar for the first time in Co Limerick since 2011.

A statement released by the Loughshinny Club, organisers of the Skerries 100 near Dublin – one of the biggest national road race meetings in the Republic of Ireland – said the club had ‘no choice’ other than to call off the race.

The statement read: “Following an MCI Directors meeting held last night, Thursday, May 18… the discussion was to decide the financial viability of the recent quotes received.

“It was determined to be unviable, therefore there will officially be no insurance cover for 2023.

“Following the news… we have no choice but to cancel the Skerries 100 which we had rescheduled for the 9th and 10th of September.

“We are gutted it has come to this however we are hopeful that road racing will return in 2024.”

An extraordinary general meeting of Motorcycle Ireland is due to be held in three weeks’ time.

The Walderstown Road Races in Co Westmeath were also due to take place in July with the popular ‘Race of the South’, where Michael Dunlop made a surprise appearance last summer and won three races.

News of the cancellations comes after motorcycle racing in Northern Ireland was saved by a last-minute revised insurance quote weeks before the season was due to commence.

Only a hefty donation by Co Tyrone businessman Derek Keys enabled the North West 200 to go ahead after the event’s insurance contribution rose to £140,000 under the MCUI Ulster Centre’s scale of charges.

The Cookstown 100 took place in April, but the Tandragee 100 was called off after important resurfacing work was not carried out prior to the Co Armagh race.

At the end of April, plans to run the Ulster Grand Prix for the first time since 2019 were shelved by the Dundrod and District Motorcycle Club. The ‘world’s fastest road race’ was scheduled to run as a two-day national meeting this year.

As it stands, the Armoy Road Races in Co Antrim from July 28-29 will be the final Irish road race of the year.