Talks are being held just now that could see a return of the Tour of Ireland as early as 2016 on the UCI Calendar. The last time the race was held was 2009 and the race was finished following cuts in the sponsorship provided by the Irish tourism board, Fàilte Ireland. 

Organiser Darach McQuaid of Shadetree Sports said that he has held talks with potential backers from the private sector in the wake of the Giro start, as well as with television partners.

“We’re engaged with a couple of major brands at the moment and we’re looking at a 2016 date,” McQuaid told Cyclingnews. “We have some agreements in place with broadcasters too but there’s always a chicken and the egg situation when you’re starting a new race or re-launching an old one, because the brands are asking what television we have in place and vice-versa.

“It’s a little bit of a wait and see now, but we’re hoping to finalise a commercial sponsor in the spring of 2015 and then soon thereafter engage with the UCI on the calendar for 2016.”

McQuaid wants the race to return as a 2.1 event, with either four or five days. There would be scope to move it up to .HC in the future.

There’s a restructure of the calendar coming from 2017 so a new four- or five-day race coming from Ireland might put pressure on the calendar,” McQuaid admitted. “We’re aware of that but we’re also aware that there’s a huge public interest in professional cycling in Ireland. The turn-out for the Giro in May was incredible. We want to see a reboot of a professional tour here and it’s a matter of getting the right brand partner and the right broadcasting element in place and we’re a good bit down the line with that.”

"If we don’t have a contract signed by June, the race falls back into 2017 again. But we’re trying to close a deal for early in 2015 so that we can work on a place in the calendar with the UCI at a non-stressful. We want to do everything in the right way."