Motorsport Ireland - Covid-19 Updates

Update - 7 May 21 - MOTORSPORT IRELAND CONFIRMS GATED MOTORSPORT CAN RESTART FROM JUNE 7TH

Posted: May 7, 2021 11:12 AM

Motorsport Ireland is pleased to announce that permitted events can resume with effect from June 7th, subject to local restrictions and in accordance with its own Return to Sport Protocol.

Motorsport Ireland will now engage with its affiliated clubs to produce a calendar of gated events for the remainder of the year. The status of non-gated events will be clarified in due course once we have further information from Sport Ireland.

Motorsport Ireland President, John Naylor, commented:
“We are extremely grateful to the government and Sport Ireland for providing the opportunity for motorsport to resume in Ireland next month in line with other outdoor sports. This is positive news for our community and after seven full months without any events, it will be great to return to the sport we all love. COVID-19 protocols still apply and our sport must continue to play its part in supporting the health service and wider frontline community in keeping infection rates under control. We can now look forward to getting motorsport up and running next month.”

Update - 1 Dec 20 - No Motorsport Competitions taking place in December

Posted: December 1, 2020 4:20 PM

"The Level 3 COVID-19 restrictions issued last night by Government and Sport Ireland prevent Motorsport competitions from taking place in December. We have written to the Minister to express our disappointment that our sport is not allowed to resume, while some other similar outdoor sports are. We will issue an update when we have further news regarding January 2021."

Update - 15 Oct 20 - Motorsport Ireland events suspended until further notice

Posted: October 15, 2020 3:11 PM

"It has just been confirmed by Sport Ireland, following Government announcements, that no Senior National Competition can take place while under Level 3 restrictions.

This means that we are suspending all Motorsport Ireland events until further notice. "

Regards,
Motorsport Ireland

Update - 20 Aug 20

Posted: August 20, 2020 5:38 PM

Motorsport Ireland have received the following clarification from Sport Ireland:

“As per the guideline’s competition/events/tournaments planned up to Sept 13th can go ahead as planned, with no spectators and strict public health protocols in place. The 15 restriction does not apply in this case.”

Events can continue to take place “behind closed doors” with strictly no spectators and must at all times be run in accordance with our “Road to Return” document which can be found on the Motorsport Ireland website.

Social gatherings either before or after an event must be avoided this includes prizegiving’s for example.

Motorsport Ireland would like to thank everyone for their hard work in organising events through this difficult time and for their understanding and cooperation as we work together to try and navigate our way through this new “normal”.

We will continue to liaise with Sport Ireland and as information becomes available, we will share it with you.

Motorsport Ireland

MOTORSPORT IRELAND EVENTS NOTICE (Laois, Offaly and Kildare) - 7 Aug 20

Posted: August 7, 2020 2:21 PM

In light of An Taoiseach’s announcement this evening at 6pm, all Motorsport Ireland events scheduled for the next 14 days in Laois, Offaly and Kildare will now not take place.

Special advice for those living in Kildare, Laois and Offaly - Friday 7 August 2020, From Department of Health

REVISED 2020 MOTORSPORT IRELAND CALENDAR AGREED - 11 Jul 20

Posted: August 7, 2020 2:19 PM

2020 Motorsport Ireland & ANICC Calendar

Motorsport Ireland issued its Return to Motorsport Protocols to all affiliated clubs - 29 Jun 20

Posted: June 29, 2020 4:04 PM

The following communication was issued to Motorsport Ireland affiliated clubs on Monday, 29th June 2020.

Dear Clubs,

After several months, the possibility of motorsport returning is close to a reality and we must now prepare for what that will look like. As communicated previously, we have had a group working on the protocols that will be required when we do return, as it is obvious that lots of things will have to done differently going forward.

In order for each club to make an educated decision on the future of motorsport in their community, we now share that document with you.

Download the Motorsport Ireland - The Road to Return Protocols from Motorsportireland.com

The “The Road to Return” document is designed to provide a practical approach to each procedure involved in the running of events within each discipline of our sport and should help clubs to make their decisions. This currently provides for the immediate return of single vehicle occupancy events only. However, we have included protocols for 2 person occupancy for when Government guidelines allow. “The Road to Return” document has been approved by Sport Ireland and we would welcome any further specific items from Clubs etc. that would enhance the protocols, as this will be a constantly changing document. Please send these by email to info@motorsportireland.com.

We will need each club that currently has a date on the 2020 calendar from July 18th to the end of the year to decide whether they are able to run those events, so that we can then compile a calendar based on that information.

The second thing we need to know from each club is whether you have a possibility of running any other events between July 18th and the end of the year, perhaps an event you have had to cancel or even another event completely. We can confirm that the insurance costs will remain as they are currently published for 2020. Please send all communication to info@motorsportireland.com and request a confirmation of receipt.

Once we have this information, we can arrange a meeting of the affiliated clubs that are in a position to run events for the remainder of 2020 and compile a calendar. We plan to meet with those clubs on the 11th of July, but the venue cannot be fixed until we have a clear picture on the numbers and the guidelines for such meetings at that time. Should a club NOT reply within the timeline below then we will assume that they are not in a position to run any motorsport events for the remainder of 2020 and any dates that they may have had will be removed from the calendar.

The time-frames are:

29th June: This email and “The Road to Return” document circulated
5th July: Final date for replies from clubs
6th July: Invitation to the meeting and a revised calendar for 2020 circulated
11th July: Meeting with clubs (location TBC)

We will start the meeting of the 11th July in the morning and the intention is to have a calendar for the remainder of 2020 before we leave. Club representatives must have a mandate to make decisions on behalf of their club regarding dates for the remainder of 2020. Should space permit, two representatives will be allowed, but there will be ample break out times to allow representatives to hold zoom meetings or telephone calls with their fellow club directors to assist with decisions. Clubs must be able to confirm the availability of venues should their event require such and no date will be agreed if this information cannot be confirmed. When replying for the 5th July, clubs must name their number 1 and number 2 representatives, as due to COVID-19 restrictions, attendance might be limited to one person and will be strictly by invitation only.

We hope that this information clarifies how this procedure will happen. As has been said many times, we are a voluntary organisation so, to be very clear, no club or person is being forced to participate and each person must be responsible for their own choices, remembering that it is always a case of “Health First”.

Motorsport Ireland

Motorsport Ireland Covid-19 Statement - 27 May 20

Posted: May 27, 2020 12:38 PM

Dear Motorsport Community

As we are half way through Phase 1 of the Government Roadmap for Reopening Society & Business we thought it was time to give you all an update on where things are within Motorsport and what the remainder of the year might look like. We are still on track to reopen some disciplines once we have reached Phase 4 on the 20th July 2020 and with everything going according to plan rallying can potentially recommence once we reach Phase 5 on the 10th August 2020. However, both dates rely on the country achieving the goals set out by the Government and should there be any changes to the dates in either direction then we will react accordingly.

We set up an expert group to create guidelines describing what a return to sport will look like for each discipline and what changes we will have to adopt in order to comply with Government guidelines at that particular time and as we all know this whole situation is very fluid. If there is an increase in people with Covid-19 no doubt Government guidelines will harden but if all goes well then perhaps those same guidelines may change or soften. The brief of the expert group, under the direction of the Chair of the Safety Commission is to “Find a practical approach for the return of motorsport while at all times keeping safe our volunteers, competitors and the wider community” It contains experienced people from a variety of disciplines and of course has medical representation.

The report from this group will be completed in the next few weeks and once we have that it will be shared will all our clubs, probably around the 25th June when we will almost have completed Phase 2. At this point, all of us will have been allowed to travel up to 20km from home and more retail outlets etc will be open so there will be an increased element of normality.

As we said previously, the calendar for the remainder of 2020 will stay intact, however at this point any club that feels they cannot run an event in their locality should withdraw that event from the calendar and their deposit will be refunded. Once we have a clear picture of what the remainder of the year looks like we will be circulating a calendar early July for the remainder of the year to all clubs so that any club that is in a position to run later in the year will know what dates are available.

Once we reach Phase 4 on the 20th July we will be able to travel outside of the 20km limit so there will be a meeting of all clubs on Saturday 25th July 2020, location to be decided as we do not know what the criteria will be for such a meeting at that time. We will start the meeting in the morning and the intention is to have a calendar for the remainder of 2020 before we leave, so we will need decisions made on the day by the clubs attending.

Certainly the first phase of return will be events held at fixed venues where access to the site can be controlled and we know that Mondello Park have significant work done in this area but the criteria will be outlined in the document which will be circulated around the 25th June 2020.

Government guidelines will always dictate what and when it happens, but the Government has laid out a road to return and we while adhering fully to those guidelines intend to have motorsport back as soon as possible. We continue to keep in close communication with Sport Ireland and the Minister for Sport and Tourism and to seek clarification on the anomalies that affect motorsport.

We hope that this proves helpful and remember together we can recover from this. We are a voluntary organisation so, to be very clear, no club or person will be forced to participate, the choice will always remain with the individual and it is always a case of “Health First”.

As always, our thoughts are with the families of the people that this horrible virus has affected.

Leo Hassett
CEO, Motorsport Ireland

John Naylor
President, Motorsport Ireland

Motorsport Ireland Covid-19 Statement - 6 May 20

Posted: May 6, 2020 11:07 AM

Following the most recent announcements from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and in keeping with all government guidelines, the Motor Sport Council decided at a meeting last night to extend the suspension of all Motorsport Ireland permitted events until the 20th July 2020 in alignment with the Government Roadmap for Reopening, Phase 4. Rally events will not be considered until after the 10th August 2020 as they fall under Phase 5 of the guidelines. These dates may have to be revised if there are changes to government policy. The Motor Sport Council does not see our sport returning completely at that time, but in a phased manner which will be done in agreement with our individual clubs.

The calendar for the remainder of 2020 will stay intact, however any club that feels they should not run an event in their locality will be free to withdraw that event from the calendar. Once we have a clear picture of what the remainder of the year looks like we will be in a position to possibly fill any gaps with events that were cancelled but are still in a position to run later in the year.

The running of a motorsport event involves the support of several stakeholders and we will need their support for our sport to return. Some of them may not be in a position to give so freely of their time and some may have suffered financial hardship so all of these topics will be discussed when we can assemble the event organisers as a group. We are a voluntary organisation and will continue to be that so no one will be forced to participate at any stage, it is a case of “Health First”.

With the introduction of our new online licensing system later in the Summer we will now offer National 12-month Licences, meaning they will expire 12 months after issue unlike the current expiration date of 30th June or 31st December.

Government guidelines will at all times dictate what and when it happens, but the Taoiseach has laid out a road to return and when it is appropriate, motorsport will do so. We will continue to give ourselves options as we are only entering the fifth month of the year and to do anything else would be previous. It is our hope that we will see the return of some events in 2020 but it cannot be guaranteed at this time. We will continue to review the situation based on governmental data and look to be prepared when the time is right.

We are in constant communication with Sport Ireland and the Minister for Sport and Tourism. We are conscious of the large economic impact that Motorsport has on our communities nationally and will play our role at the appropriate time in contributing to Ireland’s recovery.

As always, our thoughts are with the families of the people that this horrible virus has affected.

Motorsport Ireland Covid-19 Statement - 20 Mar 20

Posted: March 20, 2020 11:31 AM

"As a consequence of the ongoing health emergency and in accordance with the measures being implemented globally to counteract and contain the spread of COVID-19, all events permitted by Motorsport Ireland are suspended until the 1st June 2020. This date may be revised but we will at all times be guided by government policy and what is the right thing to do on a national level.

All clubs affected by this suspension of events will be reimbursed the deposits which they have paid to Motorsport Ireland and we encourage those clubs to work directly with us with a view to hopefully running their events at a later time. These are extraordinary times, such as we have not experienced before, but the one thing that is certain is that we will come out of this, unfortunately no one can put a time on when that will be.

Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families that the virus has affected and to all those club members who for months have been devoting time and energy to the preparation of their 2020 events. We share their disappointment and wish to express our solidarity and support. Motorsport Ireland"

Motorsport Ireland Covid-19 Statement - 12 Mar 20

Posted: March 12, 2020 10:50 AM

"An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s statement this morning in relation to the COVID-19 Virus stated that all indoor gatherings of 100 people and all outdoor events of 500 people should be cancelled from 6pm tonight, March 12th to March 29th 2020.

Motorsport Ireland will therefore support this and has suspended all events until this date. We will endeavour to work with the clubs affected to try and reschedule new dates.
We will continue to evaluate the situation and play our part in the greater national interest."

Yours in Motorsport,
Leo Hassett
CEO
Motorsport Ireland