After a 66 year gap, Road Racing returns to Fermanagh this weekend with the Enniskillen Road Races. The three mile route at Arney will host a full day of racing on Saturday, with the eleven race schedule culminating with the Richard Britton Memorial Race.
When the first race starts it will mark the fulfilment of a dream to bring road racing back to the county that started many years ago. Enniskillen and District Motor Cycle Club started the journey when they were formed to set up an event at St Angelo, and club secretary and race organiser Fiona Ferris has been at the heart of the process since she joined the fledgling club in 2015.
“St Angelo has been running for the last four years and we had it in the back of our mind that we would like to get a road race going,” she revealed. 
“Around that time it was coming up to the ten year anniversary of Richard Britton’s death. We decided we were going to create a film in his memory and we created the Richard Britton tribute DVD and put it on sale. That went really well and it gave us the little cash boost we needed to think we could maybe go ahead and do this. At that stage we didn’t have a road and there was only a few of us in the club, but we got stuck into fundraising. We tried for ages to find a road around Fermanagh that we could have the race on but it was difficult to get one without a lot of cat’s eyes or near a river. There were a lot of problems, but it was almost by chance that we hit on the route around Arney. We went around the residents and there wasn’t any real objections so we went ahead.”
Since the decision was made to make the event happen, it has becoming a time consuming project for the club members who have made it happen. 
“I can’t even begin to describe how much time and effort has gone into it,” said Fiona. “We have 11 lorry loads of bales, and endless amount of barriers and protection so it has been a lot of work. We are all volunteers so it has been every minute of the day outside of work. I have been flat out day and night for about two months. We have all been flat out. Anyone who has been self-employed has been working their hours around it and putting it first.”
Their hard work has been rewarded with a bumper entry, with riders from across Europe keen to be part of the historic day’s racing. “We have riders coming from as far as Germany and the Czech Republic,” said Fiona. “We have 12 coming from England and three coming from Scotland and the rest from the North and South of Ireland. We also have Derek Magee coming who is the triple Irish champion from last year. It’s not a championship event the first year and that has an impact, but we have enough in all our classes and we are happy with the amount of riders that we have entered.”
The track itself will provide the riders with some unique challenges and will reward bravery. “It’s technical. There are fast sections and there are narrow twisty sections with lots of jumps and steep crests so it will take a bit of riding, and it’s not for the feint hearted. We have had great support from Gary Dunlop, Joey Dunlop’s son. He has been down evenings and weekends working with us on the track and getting his hands dirty, and he has said the Montgomery ‘S Bend’ is the best bit of road racing circuit in all of Ireland.”
Fiona is hopeful that the action will attract a large number of race fans to Fermanagh, with sunshine and dry roads set to showcase the county. 
“Hopefully the good weather will bring a good crowd out,” she said. “It’s hard to know how many will be there. Cookstown Road Race have about 8,000 to 10,000 people and we would imagine we would get in and around that number if not more given we are located very centrally. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are the title sponsors and have been very supportive of the event. They have been very helpful and they and keen to see the old race revived and the crowds coming in. I have to thanks all the sponsors. A lot of businesses have invested in it. Feedback is 98 percent positive and the residents seem to be very happy about it. The Cleenish Community Group are working with us as are Cancer Connect, and hopefully we will have a successful day with a full schedule of races run and everyone home safe and sound with no accidents.”