An island of Ireland bid to host the Tour de France Grand Depart in either 2026 or 2027 has been withdrawn.
The former Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sports and Media, Catherine Martin, and former NI Economy Minister Gordon Lyons, had submitted an expression of interest in the formal bidding process to the Tour organisers.
However, current Irish Minister Thomas Byrne has confirmed that a Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland co-bid has been shelved because of a lack of a functioning government at Stormont.
Ireland last hosted Le Grand Depart, the first leg of the Tour de France, in 1998.
“The Tour de France is the biggest cycling race in the world and, during 2022, Minister Martin engaged with her counterpart in Northern Ireland, the then-Minister for the Economy, regarding a potential joint bid to co-host the opening three stages of the race, the Grand Depart,” said Byrne in a written answer to a question during a debate in the Dail.
“Departmental officials engaged with counterparts in Northern Ireland and established a project group to scope out the details of a possible bid.
“In July 2023 the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland wrote to my Department to advise that it had decided to cease work on the potential for a joint bid.
“As any hosting bid was envisaged as a north-south all-island initiative my Department is no longer pursuing a bid and this has been communicated to the event organisers.
“Should the opportunity arise again to consider a bid to host the Grand Depart, whether jointly or singly, the experience gained in the process outlined above will be of use to any such future consideration.”
