Dublin Corporation has complained about the "very disruptive effect" of the Women's Mini Marathon, which will bring 36,868 participants onto the streets and close parts of two of the main access routes to the south side of the city for much of tomorrow.
The Corporation said the race had severely affected traffic in the capital last year and resulted in "a large number of complaints". The concessions to the race organisers this year are less generous, but road closures will still be "extensive". In a statement on the Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin, Mr Con Coll, principal officer of the Corporation's Office of the Director of Traffic, said the Corporation had received many complaints about the traffic disruption caused by the event. City centre commercial interests were concerned about the "adverse effect on shopping", while Dublin Bus had objected to the "very disruptive impact" the race would have on its services. Most complaints had come from "motorists who set out on Sunday afternoon to visit family members and friends or to visit hospitals" only to encounter serious delays, Mr Coll said. While the Corporation wanted to support the event, which has raised over £25 million for charity since it began in 1983, they also had "to facilitate the increasing number of other road users who are out on a Sunday". Mr Coll advised the organisers to find a different route next year or consider holding the race earlier in the day.
The race organisers, who say they fully consulted the authorities in their preparations for the race, have promised to take the recommendations on board for next year.
Meanwhile, Mini Marathon stragglers have been warned by the Corporation that some sections of the route will be reopened to traffic as early as 4.30 p.m. and participants who have not completed the race by this time "will be asked to use the footpaths".
Parts of the north side of the city are also expected to be grid-locked for much of the day as 45,000 Gaelic football fans converge on Croke Park tomorrow to see Kildare play Offaly and Westmeath take on Laois in the Leinster Championship.
Today's replay of the Munster Hurling Championship semi-final between Tipperary and Clare will see vote tellers in Ennis down ballots for two hours so they can watch the match on televisions in the count centre.
However, vote counters in North Tipperary will be kept at their desks if the county secretary, a Clare-man, Mr Risteard O Domhnaill, has his way.
Mr O Domhnaill says there is no point in the Tipperary count staff taking time off as Clare are bound to win. He suggested they might be granted a half-hour break after the match "to get over the loss".
