A Look Back at 2025 - Participation
In the fourth instalment of ‘A Look Back at 2025’ we look at the continued growth and development within the Cycling Ireland Participation Department.
The Participation Team is made up of Regional Development Officers (RDOs) in each province, the Community Bike Ride Programme and the Euro Velo cycle route. 2025 was busy year for the Participation Team and saw some great progress in all areas.
Women in Sport
2025 saw a continued focus on women in sport. Key highlights throughout the year included a busy schedule of events for Women in Sport Week in March (Women In Sport Week Schedule), exhibiting at the Her Moves Festival in May (Thousands of teen girls celebrate fun, freedom and movement at Her Moves Festival | Sport Ireland), HER Outdoors Week in August (HER Outdoors Week Events), as well as collaborating with other NGB’s on leadership and mentoring programmes such as Move2B (Move2B Young Leaders Program) and Making Waves (Making Waves - Club Leadership Programme Information).
Other regional and local women in sport initiatives were held throughout the year by RDO’s, provinces and clubs. These included a very successful Introduction to Time Trial series and Introduction to Cyclo-cross programme in Ulster.
There were two Women’s Days Out held in Kinnity and Castlebar that offered women and girls guided mountain bike and road spins, followed by yoga and other wellness workshops.
In Munster, there was a very well attended Winter Development Programme aimed at developing skills on the bike for both leisure riders and racing cyclists.
In Connacht, there were Enduro Workshops organised for Sligo and Galway, as well as a women’s Gravel event as a joint initiative between Leinster and Connacht.
Youth
Expanding youth participation in cycling was another key of focus for the department. The aim of 2025 was to develop clubs with existing youth members, assist clubs in creating a youth section for the first time, to establish links with schools through the Cycle Right programme and to offer fun and engaging experiences for young people.
Some standout highlights for the year were the creation of new youth sections in clubs such as Ballinasloe (Galway), Tír Chonaill GAP (Donegal), Donegal Bay and a creation of a brand-new youth cycling club in north Dublin called Dublin Bay CC.
Summer and Mid Term camps at various locations in Ulster, Munster and Leinster saw numbers into the 80’s with additional coaches needed to be drafted in to handle the demand!
With the success of the Women’s Day Out events in Ulster, Connacht and Leinster, a Youth Day Out was held in Kinnity during the summer offering a guided mountain bike and road spin.
During the summer we saw the introduction of a Western Lakes Youth Road Series held in Ballinrobe racecourse which culminated in a Connacht Youth Championship.
Another key event in youth participation was the Inter-Provincial Youth MTB Competition (Inter-Provincial Youth MTB Competition 2025) held in McCyrstals CX Track in Co. Louth, by Martin Grimley. This was the second year of running this event and proved to be unique and popular format.
For the first time, links between the Cycle Right programme, which was delivered to over 40,000 primary school children in 2025, and clubs are beginning to form and take shape, with many participants of the Cycle Right programme attending mid-term camps in the likes of Ballyhoura (Limerick) and Clonmel (Tipperary). Many of the children who are now members of Dublin Bay CC have come from schools that have participated in Cycle Right.
Disability and Inclusion
Another area of focus was disability and inclusion. 2025 saw the launch of the adapted mountain bike pilot programme in Kinnity. Over 30 wheelchair users took part and 5 of these competed in the inaugural aMTB race as part of round seven of the Biking Blitz.
The team also supported the Para-cycling Road and Track National Championships as well as attending Paralympics Ireland Next Gen events in Limerick and Dublin.
Cyql
2025 saw Community Bike Rides (CBR) partner with the Cyql app, improving the experience for CBR ride leaders and participants.
As a result of this partnership, Cycling Ireland subsequently rolled out a custom version of this app for all our clubs to avail of (Cycling Ireland partners with Cyql app to Digitalize the Irish Club Experience).
As well as a growing number of CBR ride leaders, participants and group rides, the programme branched into Park Pedal, a concept that looks to replicate the successful Park Run phenomenon and also sought to establish links with Universities such as Queen’s in Belfast and Trinity College and TUD in Dublin.
Euro Velo
The Euro Velo 1 cycling route (An Introduction to EuroVelo) which extends from the Arctic Circle in Norway to the Algarve in Portugal (11,150km), includes a 2,500km section from Belfast to Rosslare, taking in Antrim, Derry, Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford. 2025 saw the launch of Euro Velo 2, which in Ireland goes from Galway to Dublin but beyond Ireland, passes through continental Europe and finishes in Moscow (EuroVelo 2– another opportunity for cycling this summer).
Looking back on what has been a busy and successful year, Participation Manager, Paul Norton said:
“As Participation Manager, it has been great to lead such a passionate and motivated team this year. The highlights outlined above are only the tip of the iceberg and with 2026 fast approaching, we will be welcoming new faces to the team, who will bring new ideas.
“We will continue to develop and grow in these key areas of youth, women, disability & inclusion and club development. I am very much looking forward to 2026 and being able to report on an even more success this time next year.”