CYCLING Miceal Concannon elected on UEC Management Committee

Cycling Ireland is pleased to announce to its members that following the recent UEC Congress in Pruszkow Poland last weekend where 40 countries were represented, that Cycling Ireland President Miceal Concannon was elected on to the UEC Management Committee. The European Cycling Union (UEC) is a continental confederation of the UCI.

Speaking following his appointment Miceal Concannon said, "I am delighted to have been elected a member of the management committee of the European Cycling Union. For me personally it was very rewarding to have been joint poll topper with Daniel Baal of the French Cycling Federation. We both received 33 out of the 34 eligible votes. This high level of support proves that the independent approach taken by Cycling Ireland and the honest role Cycling Ireland played in European affairs during the upheaval of the past two years was the correct way to do business.

I want to thank my fellow board members for their assistance in the electoral process. The fact that Pat McQuaid was supportive of my candidature was very encouraging. The support of our friends at the Olympic Council of Ireland was invaluable but mostly I have to thank Jack Watson. Jack encouraged me to put my name forward and through his extensive list of contacts he made introductions that opened doors for me that I would not otherwise have been able to access. "

Miceal also spoke of how this appointment can benefit Cycling in Ireland, "I hope that in my new role I can raise the profile of Cycling Ireland in Europe. My ambition is to seek more and better opportunities to develop the sport in Ireland and to provide better opportunities for Cycling Ireland members in Europe". He also added that " It is commonplace that the national federations of the members of the Management Committee of UEC should host European Championships during their term on the committee. I would dearly like to see that Cycling Ireland can maintain that tradition. I will work with the Board of Cycling Ireland, the Commissions, the CEO and the HP Director to examine which Championship we might apply for. We will work with our funding partners the Irish Sports Council and Sport Northern Ireland to achieve this goal

Further details on the UEC can be found at: http://www.uec.ch/ and a brief report on the congress is up on the UCI website at: www.uci.ch