Morning Ireland’s Cian on his bike

Morning Ireland’s Cian on his bike


RTÉ’s Cian McCormack to cycle Wild Atlantic Way for radio show

Anton McNulty

AWARD winning RTÉ journalist Cian McCormack will be in Mayo over the weekend as he travels from Mizen to Malin Head by bike as part of the Morning Ireland ‘Ireland by Bike’ radio series.
Cian will be cycling along the Wild Atlantic Way for the next two weeks from Cork to Donegal to gauge the mood of the public during the summer for RTÉ Radio One’s flagship news programme, Morning Ireland.
The Tipperary native started his epic journey at Mizen Head on Saturday and expects to be in Mayo this weekend to get people’s views on tourism, the economy, farming and other issues affecting them in their day to day life.
“I want to hear the real voices of the real people who might not be heard on the mainstream media because the reality is there are loads of stories out there and it is important they are covered,” he told The Mayo News.
As a reporter with Morning Ireland, Cian is no stranger to travelling to different parts of the country to try and gauge the mood of the nation ahead of important events. The one difference this time is that he will be travelling by bike but he feels he will be able to talk to more people as a result.
“When you are travelling by car you are not inclined to stop too often but when you’re on a bicycle I’d image it will be easier to get off the bike and have a chat with a farmer working in a field and get a real feeling of what the real issues are.
“From previous series, people often said that while there is a boom in Dublin, there is no boom here and it will be interesting to see if the Wild Atlantic Way is encouraging more tourism and creating jobs and employment. I will be revisiting areas which were badly hit by the storms in January and February and seeing what repairs have been made, what money has been spent and promises kept,” Cian explained.
“There is nothing more heartwarming than a good story of a person who has battled against the odds and succeeded at something in their own community for the benefit of their community. I think it is heartwarming for someone listening in a different area, be it Donegal or Waterford, to take encouragement from listening to a good story from Mayo,” he said.
The main problem with cycling he says is the inflexibility of getting to different parts of the county to meet people. However, he expects to be in Mayo by Friday and hopes to spend extra time in the county as he feels it is the leader for cycling tourism in the country.
“The plan at the moment is to try to get as far west as I can and get on the Greenway. Mayo is leading the way in terms of cycling tourism and created a model and set the standard for everyone else. There is the big Salmon festival in Ballina which is 50 years old and will be attended by thousands of people and needs to be covered by the national broadcaster. There are so many good stories in Mayo and I will need to spend longer there.”

Anyone who wants to tell their story to Cian can contact him via his email irelandbybike@rte.ie or through twitter: @cian_mccormack or @morningireland.