Pump Track under construction in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA - the future!

Tralee, Co. Kerry – For Immediate Release

10/07/2020

Mountain Biking Kerry (MTBKY) are pleased to see positive progress towards the development of the Tralee Urban Bike Park. At the Tralee Municipal District meeting of Kerry County Council on the 6th of July, 2020, Kerry County Council confirmed that a site had been identified for the Tralee Urban Bike Park. In reply to a motion put forward by Cllr. Mikey Sheehy, the Council said: “Kerry County Council are proceeding with the acquisition of a site for the provision of this amenity. Once finalised, a funding stream will be sought to enable it to be delivered”.

Earlier this year Anluan Dunne of Mountain Biking Kerry presented the project to Cllrs. and Council Management to outline its potential. Key to the presentation was a request to Kerry County Council to commit to a site to locate the project upon and identification of a funding stream.

Anluan Dunne of MTBKY said: “The identification of a site for the Bike Park is a welcome development. The design and layout of the park is key to its long term success and we now need to begin looking for highly skilled trail designers to assist with the design phase”.

MTBKY, a community group run by local mountain biker Anluan Dunne, have been working with the County Council and former Kerry County Cllr., now minister, Norma Foley on the project for the past 2.5 years.

The bike park proposal specifies three different experiences for riders. A pump track, mountain bike skills area and a miniature road network for younger children to learn the basics of riding on the open road. The park is designed to be accessible and fun for all ability levels and age groups.

Anluan Dunne said: Tralee is already established as the county’s gateway location for adventure sports and this project builds on that reputation. The whole county to should grasp this and look to expand beyond this project and become a hub for mountain biking in Ireland. We hope that the current review of the County Development Plan reflects this potential

Anluan Dunne continued: “The explosion in Irish mountain biking was recognised by the previous government through their investment of €13.6 million in mountain bike trail development. Unfortunately none of this investment came to County Kerry. We look forward to the new coalition government’s commitment to invest in projects of this nature across our country and especially in regional counties like Kerry”

County Kerry has a healthy mountain biking community and we have young people crying out for more to do with their idle time. This proposal will deliver on a tourism level, as a local amenity, as a community space and most importantly delivers all of this in an environmentally responsible, cost effective manner.

MTBKY will continue to work with Kerry County Council and elected representatives to deliver this project.

Head to www.mtbky.ie for more information.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

Contacts

For further information please email connect@mtbky.ie

About MTBKY

Mountain Biking Kerry was established in 2018 to promote and advocate for the development of mountain bike facilities and trails across the county. The group has run events aimed at getting more children active outdoors and riding their bikes off-road.

Mountain Biking in Kerry

The sport is massively undeveloped in the county despite the low cost of trail development and the huge potential of our natural landscape. Informal trails and open mountain riding are the mainstay of Kerry’s mountain bikers. Investment in a regional trail centre in Tralee is the next natural step for the development of the sport in Kerry. Other locations such as Dingle, Killarney and Listowel all have sufficient local population and facilities to support the sport. The nearest public trail centre to Kerry is Ballyhoura (2hrs by car) which attracts tens of thousands of people each year and facilitates both local and national events.

Cycle Tourism

Cycle tourism across Europe is worth more than €42bn euro each year. Ireland sees practically none of this income as no concerted effort to provide for and promote cycle holidays has been undertaken. As Kerry is highly dependant on tourism it makes sense to invest in a tourism product that has local, national and international appeal.