Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, lent his support to a cross-border initiative to attract a round of the World Rally Championships to Ireland in 2007.
Hain took to the gravel stages of the Fermanagh Lakelands in an N4 Subaru Impreza as co-driver in a course car with Billy Coleman, a legend in Irish Rallying circles since the early 1960's.
Rally Ireland is a joint initiative of Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC). This weekends event will be followed by a second event in the first half of 2006 which will be formally observed by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world governing body of motorsport, to assess Ireland's bid for a round of the World Rally Championship on an annual basis from 2007.
Commenting on the bid Peter Hain said: "This ambitious joint initiative by the Northern Ireland Events Company and Fáilte Ireland deserves every support and represents a wonderful opportunity to showcase co-operation both at home and abroad.
"The benefits of hosting a round of the Championship are far reaching and enduring. Should the WRC bid be successful the event would be the single largest annual sporting event on the island attracting 200,000 spectators and 770 million TV viewers throughout the world. This is an unrivalled and unique opportunity for international promotion. In addition, the economic benefits are tremendous, with the tourism industry benefiting significantly."
Secretary of State, Peter Hain has been a motorsport fan since his childhood. He regularly attends the Wales GB rally over the and as Secretary of State for Wales he successfully negotiated with the Motorsport Association to locate their Rally Headquarters in Wales, where it has been since 1999.
Billy Coleman, from Millstreet, Co. Cork, has been a legend in Irish Rallying since the early 1960's. He was British National Rally Champion in 1976 driving a works Ford Escort for Thomas Motors UK. Has driven Ford,Opel manta, Porsche Carerra, for works teams including Opel Ireland, Rothmans UK Rally Team, Chequered Flag. Has won the Circuit of Ireland International Rally on several occasions and has won all the major international Irish Rallies.
