No clear road to lower insurance, or reopening, for Dublin’s motorcyle sports clubs

On the second Saturday of May, sunbathers, dogs, and chatter filled Fairview Park.

Just out of sight, tucked away on the shore of Dublin Bay, is Dublin City Motocross Club’s track, where people could ride their scramblers legally.

It’s a haven in central Dublin. Topsy turvy tracks loop around, there’s no litter, and plants sprout through metal stairs climbing a dirt mound built for a good jump.

The tracks are right on the water, with views of the sea and the Poolbeg smoke stacks. The air smells like seaweed and salt.

Spray-painted on a shipping container at the track is “Dublin City Motocross. Where characters are built. Champions are made.”

There’s fresh-looking tire tracks in the dirt. But the whole place is empty.

That’s because the track has been closed since February. Motorcycling sports in Ireland have been shut down since then.

Meanwhile, people with bikes still want to ride them somewhere, and complaints continue about people roaring down streets, or tearing up parks on scramblers.

The high cost of insurance for motorsports clubs and events is the reason the legal venues for riding these bikes are closed, those involved say. So what can be done?

The government’s current approach

Fine Gael TD Robert Troy, the Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, said he’s aware of the insurance issues facing motorcycling sports in Ireland.

“And of the high premiums which are unfortunately unsustainable for many tracks and clubs,” he said.

Asked in the Dáil in February by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty what he was doing to make insurance more affordable for households, community organisations, and small businesses, Troy said the government was limited in what it could do to directly bring down premiums.

“Neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank of Ireland can intervene in insurance pricing or provision under the EU's Solvency II directive,” he said at the time.

But it has done lots of things to address the issue by encouraging more competition in the market – and there are plans in the programme of the newish government elected in November for more insurance reforms, Troy said.

Under a 2020 action plan, the previous government “delivered key reforms such as rebalancing the duty of care, reforming the Injuries Resolution Board and introducing new personal injury guidelines”, Troy said.

Now the new programme for government says it will write a new action plan, and bring in further reforms, “with a focus on encouraging further competition in the market and working with stakeholders to enhance transparency and affordability across all types of insurance”.

Today, Troy said that there is a live public consultation on that action plan. “I would welcome the thoughts of the motorcycling sports community.”

A spokesperson for the Alliance for Insurance Reform said “Increasing competition in the liability market has the potential to reduce premiums and compel insurers to look at markets they mightn’t have considered previously.”

None of that would help get people back riding on Dublin City Motocross’s track – or other similar tracks – anytime soon though.

Not working

The government’s approach to insurance reform has not been enough to keep motocross tracks open, or motorcycling sports more broadly operating.

In fact, it is during this period of reforms that Troy outlined to Doherty in the Dáil that costs have shot up so much the sport has closed down.

Kevin Byrne, who ran Mulhuddart Motocross Club, said that in 2015, when he set up the Mulhuddart club as a track for practice, as a community project to stop kids riding scramblers in an antisocial way, he was paying €4,731.25 a year for insurance.

Then after Brexit, he said that cost went up to €6,800. Then, one year, the company just wouldn’t renew the policy, he said.

He had a list of insurance companies their broker had approached, a spreadsheet detailing a long list of rejections.

In about 2023, the Mulhuddart Motocross Club shut down its activities.

It was a bit of an outlier, sorting its own insurance. Previously, most motocross clubs got their insurance through Motorcycling Ireland, former vice president Nick Craigie says.

But this year premiums got too high for Motorcycle Ireland too, he says. And that’s when most everything shut down.

Craigie said the cost of insurance had increased fourfold in recent years, and this year it would have cost upwards of €700,000.

Part of the problem was Brexit, says Troy, the minister, and Craigie, the former vice president, and Byrne.

“Predominantly back then, before Brexit, all the insurance companies were through an English company, including the MCI and ourselves,” said Byrne.

Meanwhile, across the border, Mark Scanlon of the Motorcycle Union of Ireland (Ulster Centre), said their policy costs £200,000 to £240,000 now. And motocross races are still running in Northern Ireland.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform spokesperson said “It doesn’t make sense for it to be an affordable insurance risk elsewhere but not here”.

“A proper piece of research is required to ascertain the reasons for the inability to get affordable cover here, and any work-around that might exist elsewhere we can learn from,” they said.

So what else can be done?

One issue that increases the costs of insurance for motorcycle sports in Ireland is that even if someone signs a waiver before participating, they can still file for a claim if they get hurt, says Craigie, the former vice president of Motorcycling Ireland.

“If somebody, signs an indemnity to say that they will that they ride at their own risk or partake in a sport of any kind at their own risk, whether that be horse riding and say, or motorcycling or rock climbing, and for some reason they have an accident, well then they should not be allowed claim,” Craigie says.

Brian Harte, who runs Dublin City Motocross Club, says, getting banged up is just part of the sport.

“Most people in motocross sport, they’ll have an accident … they don’t claim,” Harte said.

“I mean, it's part and parcel of the motor sports that, like these small things can happen. It's like a crash. You can hurt yourself, break a leg, collar bones. They're all normal injuries. Fingers, hands, wrists, everything. And you've got to suck it up and get on if it happens,” he said.

Changing that law, though, would also take a significant amount of time, and wouldn’t get Dublin City Motorcross’s track back open anytime soon.

Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell said people involved in motorcycle sports need to organise collectively to build a political campaign to fight for their sports.

"They need to put political pressure on their local representatives. And, you know, up the food chain as necessary, to the ministers … to force state intervention. Because, you know, there'll be no solution coming from the insurance companies," he said.

Burtchaell said they should pressure their TDs: send emails, make noise. “They should be protesting about what's happening. They should have their clubs out there, young people out. They should have banners. They should have signs,” he said.

Mark Farrelly, who runs Gormanston Moto Park, wants to see the community come together more effectively too.

“There's plenty of chats on Facebook and things like that, but nobody really provides the solutions to fix the problem,” he said. “There's nobody really coming up to the plate, you know, engaging councilors or engaging government, or engaging, you know, in a real way.”

Mark Scanlon of MCUI (UC), in Northern Ireland, said that for him, the solution for now is to get people to rally, fundraise, and contribute.

He said, the Republic of Ireland needs to be ready for next year to roll around.

“You know, everybody in the North is rooting that they get their insurance back,” he said. “And we’re missing you.”

It’s about more than racing

Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis said he runs a local football club that is partnered up with Dublin City Motocross.

He also said he thinks there’s a massive stigma around motocross and that it impacts insurance, and government support for the sport.

“I think that stems from what we see on our streets,” said Ennis, who said scramblers regularly roar through his neighborhood.

“They think crime. They think antisocial behavior. They think scramblers, zooming by them on the main road with lads with no helmets on and ski masks,” he said.

But getting kids involved in motocross could be crucial to develop drive and community and learn life skills.

Different kids will gravitate towards different sports and activities, Ennis said. Having facilities like motocross tracks is exactly how to prevent some kids from going down the wrong path.

“You won't save everybody. But it's like, sports clubs are safety nets,” he said. “Whether that's a motocross club, a football club, a GAA club or a boxing club.”

“You're not going to catch every child, you're not going to catch every every person, but they have to be there. You have to try your very best,” he said.