Cian McCormack on his Ireland By Bike series

Morning Ireland to visit Banagher, Birr, Tullamore and Edenderry

RTÉ’s Cian McCormack on his bike again for Morning Ireland visiting Banagher, Birr, Tullamore and Edenderry next week.

"I’m hoping to meet people in local communities and hear their stories; maybe they are running an interesting local festival or have something positive to tell us," Cian says.

”RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland’s is once again taking its bike to the country’s high roads and byroads to bring interesting unheard stories and voices to the station’s listeners.

The Ireland By Bike series, presented by Cian McCormack, will hear the stories of real people as Cian travels on his bike for five days, from Monday 23rd – Friday 27th July, stopping in towns, villages and communities from the west coast to the midlands.

Commenting on the series, Cian said, “This is the fourth year we have undertaken this series for RTÉ’s Morning Ireland and it has become an integral part of the summer schedule.

"Cycling on a bike and reporting gives you a different perspective on the places that you visit and for this series, I will cycle to places I don’t often get a chance to visit when I’m on the road for Morning Ireland.”

Cian’s route – hopefully as the sun continues to shine - will bring him through Newcastle West, Kilrush, Ennis, Scarriff, Terryglass, Banagher, Birr, Tullamore and Edenderry.

“This ‘Ireland by Bike’ series aims to bring listeners to places they don’t usually hear from, in terms of tourism, and to examine how communities and people are ‘unlocking the potential of their localities’," Cian explains.

"The series will look at the benefits of slickly marketed attractive tourist packages by tourist authorities including, The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.

It will ask if these campaigns have brought benefits to all areas equally”.

“During the series I will talk to local people and communities in towns and villages to see how they are unlocking their rural potential with private enterprise, community projects, tourism and festivals.”

Cian will report on the Ireland by Bike journey daily on Morning Ireland from from Monday July 23 to Friday July 27.

“I’m hoping to hear stories from people as I travel. I’m also interested to see how people, families and communities are enjoying the summer or dealing with the hot spell and how it is affecting their daily lives or businesses.”

Listeners can interact with the Ireland by bike series directly by emailing or contacting Cian directly by email at irelandbybike@rte.ie, on twitter via @cian_mccormack and on Facebook via @cianjournalist. Additional video and behind the scene video blogs will also be available on RTE.ie and the RTÉ Lifestyle website