Motorsport Ireland has announced the appointment of Art McCarrick as the National Governing Body's first Sports Development Officer (SDO) as part of their strategic plan for Irish motorsport.

Art will be in charge of promoting participation and excellence in motorsport throughout the country, as well as helping motor clubs develop initiatives that will encourage greater involvement in the sport among
their local communities. In order to achieve this, Artwill also create programmes designed to make motorsport more accessible to greater numbers of people.

Alex Sinclair, CEO, Motorsport Ireland, said: “The appointment of Art as SDO is a significant step towards the future development of motorsport in Ireland. We are excited about the prospect that the appointment could have in helping our hard working volunteer organisations to promote our sport on a grass roots level. There is significant scope within the role to develop relationships with local communities and we look forward to seeing this bear fruit over the coming months and years.”

Art McCarrick is a Sligo native and a lifelong fan of motorsport. He had a well established background in tourism and education before he became heavily involved in motorsport over the last 4 years, largely in a PR
and business capacity through his work with various drivers and Rally School Ireland.  He was also a presenter on many of the Motorsport Ireland TV broadcasts of events throughout 2014.

Art McCarrick, Sports Development Officer, Motorsport Ireland: “I am looking forward to taking up the position and I hope to bring a  level of enthusiasm to this job that will be infectious to those that I am dealing with on a daily basis. I look forward to learning from the experience of the clubs and others around me and believe that together we will be able to make a positive impact on Irish motorsport. In particular, I hope to encourage the creation of mentoring programmes within the motorsport family that will enable some of our younger
supporters to participate in this exciting and rewarding sport.”

Art McCarrick will take up the position of Sports Development Office in mid-June of this year.