The traditional Rally Ireland could be added to the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar as an additional asphalt event in 2026
Ireland is another country heading for the World Rally Championship (WRC). The WRC could return to the “Emerald Isle” as early as 2026. Concrete negotiations between the WRC promoter and the local organizers are approaching a decisive stage, as WRC Event Director Simon Larkin explains in an interview with Autosport,
“We’re working with Motorsport Ireland, particularly their president Aiden Harper, who is doing a fantastic job,” said Larkin. “I think the championship would love to go to Ireland and we also want to add another tarmac event to balance it out a bit. Ireland is a fantastic candidate.”
The World Rally Championship’s desire to add another tarmac rally to the calendar in particular could be an opportunity for Ireland. In 2024, only four of the 13 WRC rounds, including the Rally Monte Carlo, will be held on asphalt
Ireland has hosted a WRC round four times
On the 14-round calendar for the 2025 WRC season, there are only four asphalt rallies on the program: Monte Carlo, Central Europe, Japan and Rally Gran Canaria, which is being held as part of the WRC for the first time. In 2026, the WRC organizers want five, with Rally Croatia also returning to the calendar after a one-year break.
“It is very likely that [an additional tarmac event] will be added to the existing 14-round calendar,” said Larkin, who met with members of the Irish government last month to discuss the country’s WRC plans. “We met with the Department of Sport’s major sports division and made a good presentation which we will follow up and present again,” he says.
Ireland hosted a WRC round four times between 2005 and 2009. Rally sport has a long tradition on the island. The “Circuit of Ireland” was held for the first time in 1931, making it one of the oldest rallies in the world.
Return to the big stage after difficult years?
After the European Rally Championship’s last guest appearance in 2016, the rally has had to contend with a number of difficulties in recent years. From 2017 to 2019, the event was canceled for financial reasons, and a planned comeback in 2020 and 2021 was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plans to revive the Rally Ireland as part of the World Rally Championship are not new. They last failed because the funding of €15 million promised by the Irish government for 2025 could not be secured.
However, local organizers now believe that the economic conditions for a WRC round in Ireland are once again in place. Motorsport Ireland estimates that the rally would generate €300 million for the local economy as it would be held in three locations – Waterford, Kerry and Limerick – over a three-year period.
The economic sustainability of the events is also important to the WRC organizer when putting together the calendar. “We take public money for a lot of these events and we want to prove that it’s not wasted money, but that this money comes back as the number of international visitors attending these events brings new money into the region and the city, which in turn pays dividends,” said Larkin.
The economic impact of the WRC events is currently being examined using the example of the Central Europe Rally and the events in Lithuania and Poland.
