Martyn Irvine

Richmond Racer

for anyone who follows track (how dare, I know)...

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13322 ... mance.aspx

Irvine's flogged himself around the track circuit for several years with little in the way of support, and after a disappointing Olympics he had a superb weekend at the WC in Glasgow. Wish him all the best with UHC next year.

kaacp

I was reading about his performance in Glasgow at the weekend in the paper this morning and was very pleased for him. Hope 2013 is a good year for him.

Turfle

Good for him. Good enough engine to be a useful sprint train member. Showed lots of recuperation skills (?) on the weekend.

confused@BR

I gathered the impression from the little interview he had on the BBC, that Professional Cycling in Ireland is run on a shoestring? The media's general level of reporting of events in our nearest neighbour is usually poor and deeply incurious. Is there no equivalent of the British Cycling Academy?

kaacp

There was a short interview with Martyn Irvine this evening on RTE radio. It's available at http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/rte ... 5777%3A%3A and starts at 13.15.

I don't know enough to comment on how professional cycling is run here, but there is no academy structure that I am aware of. You get media coverage during the big tours and the like, or some syndicated articles in the Irish Times, which also has a cycling column on a Friday that provides a bit of a round-up, but there's not a lot of in-depth coverage. Cycling comes way down the list after soccer, GAA, rugby, golf and horse racing....!!

confused@BR

Thanks for that. It mystifies me that the British (English) media have so little interest in the island of Ireland except for 'Troubles' related stories or the odd tale of financial collapse/impropriety which is usually linked with how terrible the Euro is. We have huge amounts of reporting of every little thing in the USA (fair enough, they are our rulers) yet almost nothing about Germany, who probably own us, or the rest of Europe, where our destiny will be decided.

Ireland must have more influence on our lives, in England, than the measly amount of attention it enjoys in the media?

kaacp

There's coverage and awareness here of British events/issues, whether politics or celebrity gossip, because we get British TV channels and newspapers. The reverse is not the case, and just recently RTE, the state broadcaster, has closed its London office, which I think is a great pity.

Though as a sample snapshot, I was at the Olympics this year and there was a good awareness of the Irish athletes competing there. Maybe the Irish influence on Britain is a bit more stealthy!

RoadPainter

confused@BR wrote:

I gathered the impression from the little interview he had on the BBC, that Professional Cycling in Ireland is run on a shoestring? The media's general level of reporting of events in our nearest neighbour is usually poor and deeply incurious. Is there no equivalent of the British Cycling Academy?

Why would there be media interest in Ireland ? There's little public interest.

Even as a cycling fan, my interest in knowing about Ireland's cycling set-up is the same as my interest in that set-up in most other neighbouring countries ie not very much. I'd prefer to hear about the set-up in Norway or Luxembourg etc, to understand more about what happens in countries of people I see up mountains during stages of GTs.

Some people seem to think we should care about Ireland more than other countries, I don't get it myself. Especially as most Irish people have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about England/Britain/UK (take your pick!)

Vino2007

With very limited funds, there is not a great deal of support for full time cyclists without team contracts.

RoadPainter wrote:

Even as a cycling fan, my interest in knowing about Ireland's cycling set-up is the same as my interest in that set-up in most other neighbouring countries ie not very much. I'd prefer to hear about the set-up in Norway or Luxembourg etc, to understand more about what happens in countries of people I see up mountains during stages of GTs.

Some people seem to think we should care about Ireland more than other countries, I don't get it myself. Especially as most Irish people have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about England/Britain/UK (take your pick!)

1) Development systems in Norway and Luxembourg don't exactly correlate with having Tour standard riders
2) Your ignorance is laughable, why do most people in Ireland have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about Britain?

RoadPainter

Vino2007 wrote:

With very limited funds, there is not a great deal of support for full time cyclists without team contracts.

RoadPainter wrote:

Even as a cycling fan, my interest in knowing about Ireland's cycling set-up is the same as my interest in that set-up in most other neighbouring countries ie not very much. I'd prefer to hear about the set-up in Norway or Luxembourg etc, to understand more about what happens in countries of people I see up mountains during stages of GTs.

Some people seem to think we should care about Ireland more than other countries, I don't get it myself. Especially as most Irish people have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about England/Britain/UK (take your pick!)

1) Development systems in Norway and Luxembourg don't exactly correlate with having Tour standard riders
2) Your ignorance is laughable, why do most people in Ireland have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about Britain?

1) I was referring to fans, not riders. You see a disproportionate number of Norwegians & Luxembourgeois up the mountains and I wonder whether that interest in cycling has led to an improved development set-up for young riders - I'd like to think the passion shown up mountains has been harnessed into helping develop potential.

2) What ignorance? Are you suggesting there isn't a generally held grudge? Or have you misread my post?

TONY.M

RoadPainter wrote:

Vino2007 wrote:

With very limited funds, there is not a great deal of support for full time cyclists without team contracts.

RoadPainter wrote:

Even as a cycling fan, my interest in knowing about Ireland's cycling set-up is the same as my interest in that set-up in most other neighbouring countries ie not very much. I'd prefer to hear about the set-up in Norway or Luxembourg etc, to understand more about what happens in countries of people I see up mountains during stages of GTs.

Some people seem to think we should care about Ireland more than other countries, I don't get it myself. Especially as most Irish people have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about England/Britain/UK (take your pick!)

1) Development systems in Norway and Luxembourg don't exactly correlate with having Tour standard riders
2) Your ignorance is laughable, why do most people in Ireland have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about Britain?

1) I was referring to fans, not riders. You see a disproportionate number of Norwegians & Luxembourgeois up the mountains and I wonder whether that interest in cycling has led to an improved development set-up for young riders - I'd like to think the passion shown up mountains has been harnessed into helping develop potential.

2) What ignorance? Are you suggesting there isn't a generally held grudge? Or have you misread my post?

Absolutely no grudge at all until people like you pipe up!

Delighted for Martyn, hope the new contract goes well for him.

Vino2007

RoadPainter wrote:

Vino2007 wrote:

With very limited funds, there is not a great deal of support for full time cyclists without team contracts.

RoadPainter wrote:

Even as a cycling fan, my interest in knowing about Ireland's cycling set-up is the same as my interest in that set-up in most other neighbouring countries ie not very much. I'd prefer to hear about the set-up in Norway or Luxembourg etc, to understand more about what happens in countries of people I see up mountains during stages of GTs.

Some people seem to think we should care about Ireland more than other countries, I don't get it myself. Especially as most Irish people have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about England/Britain/UK (take your pick!)

1) Development systems in Norway and Luxembourg don't exactly correlate with having Tour standard riders
2) Your ignorance is laughable, why do most people in Ireland have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about Britain?

1) I was referring to fans, not riders. You see a disproportionate number of Norwegians & Luxembourgeois up the mountains and I wonder whether that interest in cycling has led to an improved development set-up for young riders - I'd like to think the passion shown up mountains has been harnessed into helping develop potential.

2) What ignorance? Are you suggesting there isn't a generally held grudge? Or have you misread my post?

Hmm that one was clear from your original response, the development programmes are interesting because of the fans that stand at the roadside during the GTs :roll:

Yea you do show a huge deal of ignorance with that comment. And you did not answer the question. Where do you get this impression that Irish people have a grudge?

RoadPainter

Where do you get this impression that Irish people have a grudge?
From talking with them - maybe I've been unlucky in just finding the few dozen Irish who hold a grudge?


In terms of your specific earlier Q (why do most people in Ireland have a pretty big chip on their shoulder about Britain?)
The grudge generally goes along the lines of:
Cromwell, that he's not seen as a villain in Britain despite what he did in Ireland, that there isn't much knowledge in Britain of what actually happened, the famine, refusal to allow Irish into Britain during the famine, 2 counties disappearing while Ireland got self-rule back, ongoing occupation of Northern Ireland...

Is this incorrect Vino2007?