Offaly man passes half-way point in electric car tour of every rugby club in Ireland
A former professional rugby player from Tullamore has passed the half-way point in his latest challenge, which involves him driving to every rugby club on the island of Ireland in an electric vehicle.
Peter Bracken, who played for Tullamore RFC, Connacht, Wasps and Ireland A, announced yesterday that he had already reached 121 of the 240 rugby clubs in Ireland, including all of the clubs in Ulster and Connacht.
The ambitious project, entited the ‘PeterTrys ID Drives - Tackling Irish Rugby Club Tour’ aims to promote biodiversity and sustainability, and Peter has been sharing regular photo and video updates on social media.
Peter is a volunteer An Taisce Climate Ambassador and he takes on various electric driving adventures which link sport, electric vehicles and the environment.
Last year, along with his friend and fellow ex-Connacht player Mikey Smyth, Peter drove through the 32 counties of Ireland inside 24 hours in an electric car in order to raise funds for the Rare Diseases Ireland charity.
He said he hoped these challenges could demonstrate the practicality of electric cars and help people to overcome electric vehicle ‘charging anxiety’.
Peter has also been sprinkling seeds at each club to encourage a wildflower patch on otherwise waste ground.
Frank Hogan Volkswagen Limerick has generously provided the VW ID.4 and ID.5, as well as covering the expense of over 5,000km of charging.
"If I drive a fully electric car to every rugby club in Ireland it means I have driven the entire country and my aim is to do this comfortably and stress-free, removing any fears that Irish people might have of going electric," said Peter.
"Every rugby club I've ever been to, and I've been to many, has a patch of waste ground which is not being used. These small areas can be havens for biodiversity, pollination and rewilding, which I'd like to encourage rugby clubs in Ireland to think about."
You can follow Peter’s progress on this custom map, which will be updated as Peter makes his way around to the rest of the clubs.
He is also updating people about his progress on his social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.