The North West 200, one of Ulster's top motor cycle road racing events, was last night called off because of the foot-and-mouth restrictions. The event, which was scheduled to be run next month, attracts crowds of up to 100,000 people.
Clerk of the course Mervyn White said the wider public interests meant there was no alternative but to cancel. He said: "It is bitterly disappointing, disappointing for the traders, for the area and for various people but we have got to take the whole community into consideration when we took the decision."
The cancellation came after the Northern Ireland Executive yesterday recommended the race should not go ahead. With an estimated 30,000 fans from Britain due to attend, the executive said veterinary advice claimed the meeting would present an unacceptable risk of infection.
Meanwhile, Robbie Coleman, son of Billy, will compete in the opening round of the British Formula Renault Championship at Brands Hatch on Monday - along with fellow Cork drivers Matthew Griffin and Peter Walsh.
Another Cork driver, Michael Keohane (Clonakilty) races in the British Formula Three Championship double-header at Snetterton.
Matthew Gilmore (Belfast) scored maximum Scholarship points in the recent opening races at Thruxton, but an over-anxious Keohane spun off in the second race after finishing second to Gilmore in the first race.
The Cork trio of Coleman, Griffin and Walsh originally opted for Formula Palmer Audi (FPA), and had to make a late switch to Formula Renault following the surprise demise of former Grand Prix driver Dr Jonathan Palmer's series. Two weeks ago Coleman was lucky to find a place with Team DFR, last year's runners up, as all the top drives had already been snapped up.
Also racing in British Championships this Easter weekend are James Murphy (Wexford) in Formula Ford Zetec and Eoin Murray (Dublin) in the Ford Fiesta series.
